Charles Sunnucks

Charles Sunnucks, the former fund manager of the Jupiter Emerging & Frontier Income Trust and the author of The Company Valuation Playbook, speaks with Energy.Media about China’s approach to the energy transition. Charles describes the challenges facing China as it seeks to achieve net zero by 2060 – and talks about how the world’s second largest economy may approach decarbonization.

In this episode, Sunnucks notes that China’s approach to economic growth is shifting and explains what this development is likely to mean for the country’s energy policy:

• Over the last few decades, China’s government has succeeded in achieving its goal of fostering and sustaining strong economic growth. But its success has hinged on energy-intensive industrial projects and coal-fired power-generation. As a result, the country has become the world’s largest single source of carbon dioxide emissions and now accounts for more than a quarter of the global total.
• Chinese economic growth is now being driven increasingly by domestic consumers, and not just by export markets. In turn, domestic consumers are aware of the risks that energy-intensive industries pose to their health, and they are pushing for a more balanced approach to economic growth.
• The government has responded to these concerns by imposing new environmental standards. It has also thrown its support behind renewable energy projects – as evidenced by the fact that the country added 100 GW of wind generation capacity in 2020 alone.
• Beijing has also committed to bringing the country’s net CO2 emissions down to zero by 2060. This pledge is likely to affect the allocation of capital for energy projects serving the domestic market and put more regulatory pressure on high-emissions industries.