Sun Peisong and Dr Yang Ganfu
It is estimated that clean energy will account for 80% of the increased energy consumption during the 14th five-year plan period. Non-fossil energy sources will become the main part of energy consumption increment.
Green energy is already the catalyst energising most of China’s energy supply system.
The world’s response to climate change relies heavily on affordable and low-carbon technologies available.
China has made a crucial contribution not only to avoiding one billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions by using green energy technologies, but also to successfully reducing the cost of such technologies globally.
Having the necessary affordable next-generation climate technologies will make renewable energy from the prohibitively expensive to the cheapest energy source a reality. International energy analyst Tim Buckley said, “In wind and solar power equipment installation, wind and solar power, production of electric vehicles, production of batteries, nuclear energy, ground source heat pump, power transmission and green hydrogen energy, China is leading the world.
It is no exaggeration to say that China is now leading the world in every net-zero emission technology.
China has become the world’s largest investor, producer and consumer of renewable energy.”
At COP27, Africa voiced the same clear message as China. A number of major African-led initiatives to cut emissions and build climate resilience were pronounced.
We are very pleased to see Namibia becoming a leading African country in green hydrogen energy. Namibia fully backs the development of a national hydrogen economy through the creation of the Green Hydrogen Council, which focused on developing large-scale, low-cost renewable energy projects in Namibia, ensuring that local communities benefit from these developments.
China has since 2021 transformed the model of rapid development into a more ecological and high-quality development one, which reflects the importance of green development.
China’s inherent institutional advantages enable it to bring climate change into the overall development framework of the country, integrate climate policy and industrial policy and secure the policy implementation from the top of government down to every sector of society. Doing so, any large-scale investment will win governmental policy
support.
The Belt and Road is China’s most important global initiative, and the Green New Silk Road has become the core of its global vision. China not only hope to make friends through Belt and Road diplomacy, but also commits herself to making it an important driving force for global climate actions.
Though nearly all countries have ratified the 2015 Paris Agreement for climate change, carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase. Fossil fuels used for heating, transportation and power generation still account for 82% of the world’s energy consumption in 2021. The annual average of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations in 2022 will be expected to be 50% higher than before the industrial revolution.
Admittedly, today’s climate state is the result of the stock of greenhouse gases emitted since the start of the Western industrial revolution two centuries ago.
The West, however, has refused to recognise its responsibility and liability for the irreversible climate breakdown, and has not been willing to provide funds to compensate poor nations for the “loss and damage” they’re experiencing as a result of extreme weather worsened by climate change and the ‘climate debt’ occurred in poor nations’ energy transformation. All of these have hurt global efforts to mitigate climate change.
A world of green energy is not a place to go by fantasy and lip services but actions. China’s efforts and actions are the most solid and reliable force in global commitments to shift to clean energy. China has no bad records of empty promises to address climate change. Whatever other countries, including the US do, curbing climate change will be a priority for China.
On China’s future role in overcoming climate challenges, the CPC20 report reads: “We will promote the construction of green China, adhere to the systematic protection and management of our natural resources, overall industrial structure adjustment, pollution control, ecological protection, carbon reduction, ecological priority in a bid to achieve, economical and green development.
These commitments, which will help save our planet from the deepening climate crisis, will have a crucial impact not only on China but also on global climate change.
*In part one of this opinion piece published by New Era on 28 November, titled, ‘China’s efforts for global reduction of carbon emissions (1)’ the authors state that the USA is “the largest carbon emitter”. This is, however, not factual as China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide.
We regret the error.
*Sun Peisong is a research fellow, World Development Institute, The State Council of China
*Dr Yang Ganfu is the director of Africa Studies, Lianyungang Development Institute