China Seeks Carbon Neutral Environment at Home But Pushes Dirty Coal Plants in Africa

 CNN Business posted on 10 December 2020 a story titled "Activists Are Fighting for a Renewable Future in Sub-Saharan Africa. Chinese Coal Projects Threaten to Dirty Those Plans" by Eoin McSweeney.

Chinese companies continue to push the construction of coal power plants in Africa despite objections from environmentalists and Xi Jinping's call early this year for green development and carbon neutrality in China by 2060.  African governments have been eager to move forward with cheap, dirty energy projects that only Chinese banks will finance.  

China's Drive for Global Resources

The Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies published on 28 March 2017 a commentary titled "The Dark Legacy of China's Drive for Global Resources" by William Laurance, James Cook University in Australia.

The author concludes that China is currently having an overwhelming impact on the earth's environment. China is involved in resource extraction, energy, agricultural, and infrastructure projects--roads, railroads, hydropower dams, mines--that are wreaking unprecedented damage to ecosystems and biodiversity. At the same time, China is engaged in green activities, such as investing heavily in solar and wind energy, cracking down on its notorious air pollution, and replanting millions of acres of its denuded lands. Many of the examples cited by the author are in Africa.

India-Africa Partnership for Food Security

The Observer Research Foundation (ORF), an Indian think tank, published on 23 June 2016 a study titled "India-Africa Partnership for Food Security: Issues, Initiatives and Policy Directions" by Malancha Chakrabarty and Vidisha Mishra, both at ORF.

The paper argues that there is a strong rationale for India-Africa collaboration on food security. India provides low-cost technology solutions, builds capacity, and offers improved seeds and agricultural machinery. The paper argues that India's interest in African agriculture is not driven by its domestic food security concerns. On the contrary, Africa is a huge market for India's growing food and agricultural sector.