Greening the Steel and Cement Used in China’s Global Infrastructure Projects
China’s development finance institutions (DFIs), primarily the China Development Bank (CDB) and the Export–Import Bank of China (CHEXIM), have become central players in global infrastructure development. At the same time, China’s overseas infrastructure projects have come under scrutiny for their climate impact. Steel and cement are indispensable for roads, railways, bridges, ports and power plants, yet their production accounts for nearly one-fifth of global CO₂ emissions. As the core materials of Chinese-financed overseas infrastructure projects, they deliver durability but at a steep carbon cost. A report by Cecilia Springer of Synapse Energy Economics and co-authors from Boston University and Global Efficiency Intelligence quantifies the material demand and associated emissions in key Chinese-financed transport and energy projects around the world. The report also analyzes green procurement scenarios and discusses implementation pathways that could align Chinese-financed infrastructure with global climate goals.
The report finds that the volume of embodied carbon in steel and cement is smaller relative to direct emissions from highly carbon-intensive infrastructure (such as coal-fired power plants), but it still represents a non-negligible and largely unregulated source of CO₂ emissions. Cement use in Chinese-financed transport and energy projects has generated about 2,452 kt CO₂, and South Africa, Indonesia, Argentina, Ethiopia and Angola account for 40 percent of this footprint. Steel emissions vary with sourcing: if produced domestically within the country where the infrastructure is built, they total 3,480 kt CO₂; if imported entirely from China, they rise to 4,772 kt CO₂, reflecting China’s higher carbon intensity of steel production. Argentina, South Africa, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Angola together account for 62 percent of steel-related emissions under the domestic case. The report also analyzes green procurement scenarios, showing that green procurement policies can be a powerful tool to reduce embodied emissions by embedding low-carbon requirements into the sourcing of cement and steel.