As the world prepares to celebrate the Wood Snake Lunar New Year on January 29, civil society groups in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Philippines, and India urged China to act swiftly in leading Asia's just transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy (RE), especially as the region continues to lack access to electricity and suffers the brunt of the climate crisis.
In a press conference in Quezon City, leaders of movements in Asia said China is in the best position to lead the transition of developing countries to a faster rate of fossil fuel phase out being the biggest producer and supplier of RE technologies in the world, particularly solar and wind.
China is in a very vital and unique position to lead in Asia’s rapid and just transition from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy systems. It is after all the producer of more than 70% of the global supply of solar and wind technology and has contributed significantly to the reduction of the costs of these technologies. It also has one of the highest growth rates in the RE share of electricity mix. It has vast financial resources that can be mobilized for investments for the just transition to renewables. At the same time it still has much to do by way of phasing out coal power in its domestic energy production. This points to a great need and potential for China to take a more active leadership role in the energy transition in Asia and globally., said Lidy Nacpil, coordinator of the regional alliance Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development.
“Developing countries need more support from China, especially in terms of accelerating dedicated, scaled-up, appropriate, and fair financing to support Asia’s just energy transition,” Nacpil added, pointing out that President Xi announced the availability of a $107 billion financing window dedicated to supporting clean energy projects in developing countries during the 2023 Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit. “The delivery of these commitments must be scaled up through grant-based financial instruments and mechanisms so as not to exacerbate the debt burdens of developing countries.”
Pius Ginting, coordinator of Action for Ecology & People’s Emancipation (AEER) in Indonesia, said “ harmful fossil fuels must be rapidly phased out, but, renewables must be integrated into the energy mix and significant financing given to enable us to undertake the just transition. China's investment in the nickel industry using coal power plants is about 9000 MW. This is harmful for Chinese and Indonesian workers ”
Asian civil society leaders presented a few other demands to scale up the full adoption of renewable energy in Asia.
Ian Rivera – coordinator of the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice – urged China to “foster strategic partnerships with sub-national governments of developing countries to accelerate the development of RE projects and drive the country’s energy transition based on the Paris Agreement commitments. Like the Philippines, which has a high renewable energy potential waiting to be tapped and investments are wanting. The offshore potential at 178 GW and solar PV potential at 122 GW need investments and finance. In a world that has already breached 1.5C, and science stressing 2025 as the peak of fossil fuels, a rapid shift to clean renewables has co- benefits for a country that is very dependent on fossil fuels. In the context of the Philippines where coal and fossil fuels are expensive and not reliable. This will also address the issues of energy poverty and the lack of access to electricity that are prevalent in developing countries of the South.”
Meanwhile, Sharif Jamil – head of Waterkeepers Bangladesh, said “countries that are leading expansion of renewable energy technologies and have strong financing capacity, particularly China, should support in technology transfer and mobilizing low cost finance for the developing countries. Bangladesh has high potential, it is a place for China to rapidly scale up renewable energy finance and equipment. There should be more engagement at the bilateral level to facilitate smooth transition to sustainable power production and economic growth.”
Ravi Rebbapragada, chairperson of Mines, Minerals & People in India, stressed that “China is in a unique position to support the energy transition in India and the developing countries in Asia. China can deliver this support not only by providing the necessary equipment and material needed in transitioning to renewable energy, but also through technology training, knowledge-sharing, and financing to equip countries with the necessary skills and resources to rapidly develop and maintain their own renewable energy systems, including the utilization of transition minerals found in their own countries.”
“Renewable energy is not just a solution to the climate crisis. By converting untapped solar and wind energy resources into real, impactful projects, we can transform our energy systems to empower communities, drive economic growth and end our dependence on fossil fuels!,” said Badar Alam, chief executive officer of Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development (PRIED) in Pakistan.
It will be recalled that President Xi Jinping told the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 21, 2021 that “China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.” On October 18, 2023, he likewise affirmed China's commitment to foster renewable energy development during the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Summit in Beijing.
