As the urgency for climate action grows, China, through its cutting-edge technologies and strategic cooperative projects, is proving to be a crucial and reliable partner for other developing countries in their green transition drives, according to foreign experts and officials on the sidelines of this year's UN climate conference in Azerbaijan.
China dominates the global solar energy sector, producing nearly 80 percent of the world's solar panels. The International Energy Agency says China built more solar panels in 2023 than the entire world combined in 2022.
"In China, for the solar PV, the transition efficiency can [be] up to 27 percent, commercialized. It's the highest efficiency in the world, and also very cheap," said Wang Jinzhao, executive vice president of Center for International Knowledge on Development (CIKD).
In the second week of the COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, more developing countries are highlighting their cooperation with China in a transition to a greener future that is both affordable and efficient.
"The Bahawalpur National Park, the solar park of 1,000 megawatts was established with Chinese collaboration and for that we are grateful to the Chinese government and we are moving towards more cleaner and greener energy. And in all our strategic projects, China is a partner. The CPEC phase II is going on smoothly. We are seeing more B2B cooperation in that," said Attaullah Tarar, the Pakistani minister of information and broadcasting.
Contributions from China are bridging the gap between ambition and action in the fight against climate change, according to some officials from the developing world attending COP29. Since 2016, China has provided and mobilized billions of U.S. dollars in project fund in support of other developing countries' climate response. Its initiatives include the development and transfer of technology, as well as skills.
"We have now very close cooperation between Nigeria and China. Recently we were invited to Beijing where we had a discussion on the area of solar belt in Nigeria. We are also looking at trying to tap from China in to our green industrialization in Nigeria. But most important is that we are looking at is the issue of clean energy,” said Balarabe Abbas Lawal, the Nigerian minister of environment.
"China is actually helping us to move forward with our targets by providing us with support for installation of PV systems on schools, on islands and also transitioning from older, less efficient systems, for example street lights, to newer and more efficient systems," said Flavien Joubert, Seychelles' minister of environment and agriculture.
The COP29, formally known as the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), opened in Azerbaijan's capital city on Nov 11 and will conclude on Friday.
COP, or Conference of the Parties, refers to a series of formal meetings where governments assess global efforts to advance the Paris Agreement and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, with the aim of limiting global warming increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
China plays key role in driving green transition of developing world: foreign ministers
