China’s Clean Energy Investments Abroad Are a Boon for Climate, but Human Rights and the Environment Are a Different Story

Inside Climate News · By Nicholas Kusnetz · last updated December 17, 2025 – 12:03 AM

Chinese companies have pledged hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy manufacturing investments overseas. The projects could help lower emissions, but they are having significant social, environmental and human rights impacts.

By Nicholas Kusnetz

Planet China: Twelfth in a series about how Beijing’s trillion-dollar development plan is reshaping the globe—and the natural world.

here today, more tomorrow

We’ve launched briefing.center with a focus on the press and media.

And we’ve added Citizen Cartwright, a daily quick-read news summary by veteran Washington journalist Linda Cartwright. We’ve also created a new voting rights knowledge center for Citizen Cartwright subscribers. (You can sign up for a dedicated morning email at citizencartwright.com.)

You can sign up here for full access to press and media and Citizen Cartwright on briefing.center.

You can use briefing.center as the center of your information management, or just one of your tools. We’re happy to discuss your information needs.