China is a global leader in clean energy manufacturing. But did you know that most of the emissions reductions -- resulting from the solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, batteries and more that it builds -- will go to other countries?
A new analysis by Carbon Brief highlights the huge impact this is having at the global scale. In 2024 alone, for example, China’s booming exports of clean-energy technologies are estimated to have slashed global carbon emissions by 1 percent.
It's true that manufacturing those items generated emissions. However, those emissions—110 million tonnes—will be offset in only six months. Over their operational lifetimes, these exported clean-energy technologies will avoid a cumulative 4 billion tons of emissions. That’s incredible!
China is also making clean-energy investments overseas, including building solar panel manufacturing plants abroad, and has pledged to stop supporting the development of coal-fired power plants abroad. This is a good example of how no country is an island, so to speak. What happens in one country can have an enormous impact on other countries. In the case of China, it's clearly impacting the entire world.
The not so good news:
The Mediterranean has been in the grips of a sweltering heat wave that has sent temperatures soaring throughout the region, including Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Turkey, which recorded its highest temperature on record on Friday: 50.5 degrees Celsius (113F) in the southeastern city of Silopi near the Iraqi border.
Above normal temperatures coupled with dry conditions have led to deadly wildfires in Turkey, where 13 people died the week of July 21 fighting a blaze in Eskisehir province. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country was “faced with a truly great disaster” from the fires, which some 25,000 personnel were fighting across the country.
Finland is also experiencing record-breaking heat, hitting temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius for 19 consecutive days as of last week Wednesday. The previous all-time heat record was 13 consecutive days above 30 degrees Celsius, in 1972.
And flooding in Beijing, China, has left at least 30 people dead and forced thousands more out of their homes. Meanwhile, in Alberta, Canada, the fifth-wettest July on record resulted in thousands of basements flooded, submerged cars, and inundated parks. And in the U.S., heavy rainfall in Detroit caused a ground stop at the airport and flooded a tunnel there, while flash floods across New York and New Jersey led to states of emergency being declared in many areas.
Of course we’ve had extreme heat and flood before: and the worst damages occur when people build and live in areas already vulnerable to flood and heat. However, as the planet warms, it’s loading the weather dice against us. Heatwaves are more frequent and more severe; heavy rainfall is increasing; and all of this puts us at risk.
As I often say, “It’s not about saving the planet: it’s about saving us!”
Katharine Hayhoe
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There is today, more than ever, the need for a compassionate regenerative world civilization.