OOn Wednesday, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China announced that the country would invest in major renewable energy projects – in the development of new offshore wind farms and large -scale energy bases that combine solar and wind farms.
This is the country’s last decision, both a leader in renewable energies and the largest greenhouse gas transmitter in the world, to make breakthroughs in the transition of green energy.
The domination of renewable energies of China was long to come, according to experts. “Several of the clean energy industries were identified by the government several decades ago as strategic industries, where they really wanted to invest and position themselves as a world leader,” explains Joanna Lewis, director of the program of sciences, technology and international affairs at the University of Georgetown. “This has really been a long -term strategic effort on behalf of the government both implemented policies that would promote the deployment of renewable energies at the national level in China, but would also strengthen industrial capacity to allow them to manufacture technologies as well.”
What is the climatic target of China?
In 2020, China announced that the country would reach carbon advanced emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Since then, the country has made progress towards the adoption of clean energy. The same year, the Chinese government undertook to double its renewable energy capacity by 2030, but to achieve this goal six years in advance. And in 2024, the country led the world in energy transition investment, representing two -thirds of the 2.1 billions of dollars spent on a global scale last year, from electrical networks to electric transport, according to Bloombergne.
China currently produces 31% of its electricity from renewable sources, in particular wind, solar energy, hydroelectricity and geothermal energy. While the country still depends strongly on coal, estimates predict that in 2026, solar energy will exceed fossil fuel as the main source of Chinese energy.
The country also expands its scope and contributes to stimulating the adoption of green energies in other countries – in particular by deploying its belt and road initiative, a global project to develop infrastructure, in developing countries to focus on clean energy and green infrastructure. “China wants to provide green energy goods for the world,” said Samantha Gross, director of the energy and climatic security initiative at Brookings Institution. “The push of the Chinese government to subsidize and to really feed its green energy industries was not only to serve the domestic market, it is to serve the global market.”
Exports of renewable products in China increased from 35% from 2019 to 2023, and manufacturers of battery in the country in the country had a global market share of 60% in 2023 only.
Why is China still builds new coal -fired power plants?
Despite the country’s green transition, China still depends strongly on coal – the largest unique source of greenhouse gas emissions in the world per unit of energy. In addition to Record Green Energy Investments from last year, the construction of China’s coal energy reached a higher 10 years in 2024, which reports 66.7 GW of new coal electricity capacity. (A Gigawatt alone is the equivalent of a large coal -fired power plant.) “China uses coal for a large part of its electricity production because this is what they have,” explains Gross, which notes that fossil fuel helps guarantee the country’s energy security in the middle of growing demand.
The coal industry is also a major economic hub in many Chinese provinces, presenting a painful place for the country’s environmental objectives. “There is this inherent conflict where China has imminent climatic objectives that it will have to achieve in the coming years,” explains Lewis. “And to achieve these objectives, you will have to see the growth of renewable energies not only go beyond the growth of fossil fuels, but you will have to see a drop in the role that fossil fuels play in the Chinese energy system.”
Earlier this year, the EU ambassador to China asked the country to stop building coal factories, but if China is able to make the change remains to be seen. Despite massive clean energy investments, the country’s emissions experienced a 0.8% increase in 2024.
How are China’s climate actions compare to other countries?
In the United States, China’s green energy thrust has helped shape the Bide-Ere Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a green industrial policy of almost $ 400 billion which aims to increase the production of energy specific to the United States. “”[China] has spent a lot of money to subsidize and help their industry industry, their battery, its solar panel, and they are world leaders in these industries accordingly, ”explains Gross. “The law on the reduction of inflation was an attempt at Congress and the Biden administration to compete with this.” (The future of IRA is currently in the air, after President Trump signed a decree on the first day at the office by freeing the financing of the program.)
While China exceeds all other countries of investment in green energy, its dependence continues and its investment in coal means that this has not yet been reflected in reduced emissions. Although the contribution at the national level of China under the Paris agreements – which establishes the plan of a country on the way it will help to achieve the objectives of Paris – means that the country “will culminate” the emissions by 2030, it does not specify a ceiling. In comparison, some countries, including the majority of EU nations, are starting to see their emissions decrease. “The peak implies that the emissions will stop climbing, but that does not say at what level they will stop going up,” explains Lewis.
Since China is the world’s largest transmitter of greenhouse gas, a firm commitment in the country to stabilize, then reducing emissions is the only way to the world to achieve world climate goals. “If the peak is very high, it will make the world very difficult for limiting emissions to a level that would hold warming to 1.5 degrees or even 2 degrees,” explains Lewis. “We do not see enough signs – even with the really impressive construction of renewable energies – that China takes on this path fairly quickly.”
