CHINA has reported making good progress in its transition to green energy, with the State Council Information Office issuing a white paper saying it is on track for peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.
Clean energy generated 40 per cent of China’s electricity last year, while investment in clean energy was the biggest driver of the country’s economic growth. Its $890 billion (£680bn) investment in clean energy was almost equal to global investment in fossil fuels in 2023.
According to the white paper, exports of Chinese wind and solar power-generating products helped reduce other countries’ emissions by 810 million tonnes, though Britain and the United States have started trying to block these imports, allegedly over human rights concerns.
The document attributes a 60 per cent drop in the average cost per kilowatt-hour of wind power and an 80 per cent fall in the price of solar power over the last 10 years to China’s massive expansion of these sectors.
The International Energy Agency says that China has accounted for 40 per cent of all renewable capacity expansion worldwide since 2019.