'China built the industrial spine of the global energy transition by leveraging its huge domestic market'

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fter two fraught weeks, the COP30 climate summit in Belem yielded only a fragile set of compromises, sidestepping once again the critical question of how quickly the world must phase out fossil fuels. Yet beyond the negotiation halls, the global energy system is already shifting – powered by more affordable clean technologies and rapid deployment. And on this front, no country is more consequential than China.

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COP30's unambitious agreement preserves multilateralism but overlooks climate emergency

The scale of China's renewable energy build-out is unprecedented. Between 2021 and 2024, it added almost as much wind and solar capacity as the rest of the world combined, surpassing its 2030 target of 1,200 GW six years early. That momentum has carried into 2025, with over 210 GW of solar installed in the first half of the year – more than the total installed solar capacity of the United States – alongside another 51 GW of wind.