This report assesses the mismatch between the PRC’s green rhetoric and Chinese-financed development projects’ impact on the environment. The first section provides an overview of the CCP’s evolving environmental policy, regulations on PRC foreign direct investment, and corporate initiatives that address environmental-related reputational risks. The second section includes four case studies that are illustrative of the differences between PRC policy and practice. Case studies on infrastructure development in Central and Eastern Europe and among the members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) expose the environmental impact of the BRI and how Chinese companies have sought to present themselves as environmentally responsible even when local civil society groups have exposed shortcomings and protested environmental damage. Examinations of the battery supply chain and renewable energy sector, and how they are often advanced via a close-knit relationship between PRC officials and local political elites, highlight the sometimes-damaging repercussions for local communities of investment in so-called clean energy.
