China's "mind-blowing" pace of renewable energy growth has made a tremendous contribution to global climate action, according to the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme.
The great production capacity in China has greatly reduced the costs of renewable energy and increased its availability worldwide, especially in the Global South, said Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and UNEP executive director Inger Andersen.
Speaking to China Daily ahead of the seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly, which is taking place this week in Nairobi, Kenya, starting on Monday, Andersen said China's massive increase in the installation of renewable energy generation — toward 3,600 gigawatts by 2035 — demonstrates "what is achievable with long-term planning, industrial capacity and strong policy alignment". She said that when countries lean into ambitious installed-capacity targets, "it changes the global trajectory".
Andersen noted that no other country comes close to China's level of renewable installations, saying its rapid buildout is set to drive substantial emissions reductions by 2035, powered primarily by the expansion of solar and wind.
A global leader in renewable energy, China aims to expand the combined installed capacity of wind and solar power to 3,600 gigawatts by 2035, which is six times the level of 2020, according to the Chinese government.
Andersen said China's vast clean-tech manufacturing ecosystem has produced major spillover benefits for other nations, particularly in lowering the global price of renewable technologies.
"Because of China's huge production capacity, renewable availability has increased while costs have dropped dramatically," she said, citing an average global solar price of 3.3 US cents per kilowatt-hour as "magnificent progress".
The UNEP chief also pointed to China's fast-growing electric-vehicle ecosystem — from two-wheelers to buses and passenger cars — which is expanding across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
She noted that local assembly of some models in developing countries is already creating jobs, improving air quality and supporting low-emission transport transitions.
Andersen's comment follows a recent UNEP report, which said China's rapid expansion of renewable energy is emerging as one of the most decisive forces shaping global climate action.
Unprecedented scale
The report highlighted China's projected 3,600 gigawatts of installed renewable-energy capacity by 2035 — a scale UNEP described as unprecedented — that could narrow the global emissions gap by accelerating clean-energy deployment, cutting technology costs and expanding access across the Global South.
UNEP stated in the report that the costs of solar and wind power continue to fall, and China's expanding renewable-energy capacity is driving global progress toward cleaner electricity systems.
For many developing economies, the report said, China's approach to scaling manufacturing, reducing costs and enabling technology transfer offers a practical blueprint for accelerating South-South cooperation.
UNEP, in the report, highlighted that financing partnerships and the availability of affordable Chinese-made equipment can help countries build resilient, low-carbon power systems more quickly and at lower cost.
Andersen said China's clean-energy transformation remains a powerful example of what coordinated industrial policy can achieve.
"China's green shift shows that rapid, large-scale progress is possible, and it offers lessons for all nations striving to deliver on the Paris climate goals," Andersen said.
This year's seventh session of the United Nations Environment Assembly will come at a critical moment, according to UNEP.Although renewable electricity is surpassing coal generation globally for the first time this year, current national pledges for emission reductions remain insufficient to limit global warming, it said, urging greater global efforts to further cut emissions.
