The World Forges Ahead on Clean Energy,Despite US Retreat
While the United States reassesses its commitment to decarbonization andโค clean energy,the global momentumโ towards a sustainable future is accelerating. Expertsโ suggest thisโ shiftโ in American policyโฃ creates an opening for competitors, particularly China, to take a leading role in the burgeoning clean energy sector.
The upcoming COP30 summit โขwill highlight this changing landscape,โ even โwith Chinese President โXi Jinping’s absence. Reports indicate a strong Chinese presence โขandโ a demonstration of the notable advancements made by China’s clean technology โindustryโ inโ regions like Latin America. Brazil’s decision to utilize Chinese-made electric vehiclesโ for summit transportation โserves as a tangibleโข example of this global trend.
Globally, historic โprogress is being made. Renewable energyโข sources have now surpassed โขcoal asโฃ the world’s largest โsource โฃof electricity generation.China alone has added an impressive 300 gigawatts (GW) of โคsolar and wind โcapacity this year – nearly five times the total renewable capacity of the United Kingdom.
Thisโ transition isn’t limited to established economic powers. โ A growing number of developing nations across โขSouth America, Africa, Southeastโ Asia, and the Middle โคeast are rapidlyโ adopting clean energy technologies.โข This surge is driven by the increasingly โfavorable economics of renewable energy, particularly the low cost and widespread availability โof solar technologies.
The influxโฃ of affordable solar panels and windโ turbine components, largely originating from china, is enabling countries like Brazil, Chile, El Salvador, โMorocco, Kenya, and Namibia to outpace the Unitedโ States in their transition to clean energy.โ Yale Environment 360 estimates that approximately 63% of emerging energy markets in Africa, Asia, โand Latin America now relyโ on solar energy to aโ greater extent than theโฃ US.
Some nations are experiencing remarkably swift energy transitions, integrating ample solar power capacity within just โa few โyears. Pakistan, for example, โhas emerged as a “major new adopter of solar energy” in a remarkably โขshort timeframe.
“We have never before seen solar deployment on this scale and in such a short period โฃof time anywhere around the world,” notes Jan โฃRosennoh, head of the energy program at the โEnvironmental Change Institute at Oxford University.
This dramatic expansion is directly โคlinked to the significant โคcost reductions in wind and solar technologies, โคa decline largely fueled by large-scale industrialization โinโ China.โ โขLars Netter Havero, headโ of energy macroeconomic research โat โขRystad Energy,โ explainsโ that the world is now benefiting from this expansion, allowingโ emerging โฃeconomies to “seize the prospect and leap into the new energy era.”
China’s dominance inโข clean energy manufacturing, coupled with its โคcompetitive pricing, has solidified its control over global clean energyโค supply chains and increasedโค its influence in developing economies. Crucially, China’s capacity โis proving essential for many โcountries striving to meet their decarbonization goals,โ particularlyโฃ asโฃ previously pledged โคclimate finance from other sources has โคoften fallen short.
