676 5 NOVEMBER 2021 • VOL 374 ISSUE 6568 science.org SCIENCE
what appeared to be de facto policy, Xi told
the United Nations General Assembly on
21 September that China would stop build-
ing coal-fired plants abroad altogether. (Coal
power continues to boom at home, however.)
The shift away from coal “occurred more
rapidly than many observers, including
me, expected; this is cause for optimism
about the greening of BRI projects in the
developing world,” says Tyler Harlan, a geo-
grapher at Loyola Marymount University
in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, renewable energy projects
like Zhanatas are burgeoning. Solar and
wind power are increasingly cost competi-
tive, and like other developing countries,
“Kazakhstan is aiming to decarbonize to
preserve the environment,” says Kuanysh
Baltabayev, executive director of EcoJer, an
association of regional environmental ini-
tiatives in Kazakhstan. Chinese companies
are studying two more renewable projects
there, one wind and one solar. And the
shift toward renewables is seen through-
out the BRI countries. Total BRI invest-
ments in solar, wind, and hydroelectric
power surpassed spending on fossil fuel
plants in 2020, Nedopil reported.But Harlan and others caution that car-
bon dioxide is only one part of BRI’s envi-
ronmental cost. The initiative includes the
construction of hundreds of dams, some
of which fragment aquatic communities
and block migratory fish species, Laurance
says. And “there are massive road-building
projects in the works” under BRI, adds
ecologist Alex Lechner of Monash Uni-
versity, Indonesia. These damage local
ecologies and pose a major risk to global bio-
diversity, a study published in 2020
showed, while also increasing emissions
and reducing the extent of forests, whichRail Road Pipelines Maritime routes Coral Triangle Biodiverse areasBRI infrastructure
Indian OceanPacific Ocean785126341 Coal on the way out?
A planned coal power plant in
Zimbabwe is off the table. All told,
33 of 52 Chinese-financed coal plants
announced between 2014 and 2020
have been shelved or canceled.
2 Here comes the Sun
A Chinese contractor completed
Kenya’s first solar power station
in 2020, 1 year after a major Chinese
bank scrapped plans to finance
a coal power plant in the country.
A mixed picture
The “infrastructure tsunami” planned under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) poses risks to biodiversity hot spots throughout Asia, Europe, and Africa.
But investments in coal are increasingly giving way to renewable energy.
NEWS | FEATURES
3 Windmills on the steppe
The 100-megawatt Zhanatas Wind
Farm in southern Kazakhstan,
completed in June, is an example
of BRI’s recent investment in
renewable energy.4 Migratory hurdles
East-west roads and rail lines across
Eurasia threaten to block the north-
south migrations of saiga antelopes,
Mongolian gazelles, and kulans,
a species of wild ass.5 Ecosystems at risk
BRI road and rail links encroach
on two major protected areas
in Thailand and one in Laos. All
host endangered species.6 Orangutans threatened
The Batang Toru hydropower
project on northern Sumatra
in Indonesia threatens the Tapanuli
orangutan, the world’s rarest ape.
The Bank of China has withdrawn
its financial support.7 Great river dammed
Studies suggest Cambodia’s Lower
Sesan 2 Dam will have a major impact
on aquatic diversity and fisheries in
the Mekong. More than two dozen
other Mekong basin dams are planned
under BRI.8 Peril at sea
Expanded shipping lanes through
the C o r a l Tr i a n g l e, a global center
of marine biodiversity, threaten
reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds.CREDITS: (GRAPHIC N. DESAI/SCIENCE; (DATA KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS PARTNERSHIP;CORAL TRIANGLE ATLAS; A. HUGHES,CONSERVATION BIOLOGY, 33:4, 883 (2019