BEIJING, Oct. 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Adil Ahmed, 65, is one of the Pakistanis who have felt the effects of the thriving clean energy development underway in Pakistan through various energy projects carried out in cooperation with China.
“I have installed PV (photovoltaic) panels on my roof,” said Ahmed, adding that many of the panels in Pakistan were produced in China.
Besides exporting PV panels, China has assisted Pakistan in utilizing its abundant solar energy and water resources through green energy projects.
With an annual generating capacity of 3.2 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity, the Karot hydropower project is expected to save about 1.4 million tonnes of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 3.5 million tonnes each year, according to Pakistani officials from the Karot Hydropower Plant.
The Karot hydropower project is just one of the examples of China’s efforts in building a green Belt and Road.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In the past decade, China has not only forged ahead with its own green transition but also made significant progress in developing a green BRI.
“In the past 10 years, China has managed to fuel an average annual economic growth of 6 percent, with an average annual energy consumption growth of 3 percent,” said Huang Runqiu, minister of ecology and environment, while addressing the Roundtable on BRI Green Development and the General Assembly of BRI International Green Development Coalition in May.
China’s carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP dropped by around 35 percent, which is equivalent to cutting about 3.7 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions, Huang said, adding that in 2022, the installed capacity for renewable energy in China reached 1.2 billion kilowatts, overtaking that for coal-fired power for the first time in a historic catch-up.
Besides pursuing its own green and sustainable development, China has, in recent years, continued to share advanced technologies and carried out several clean, low-carbon and quality green energy cooperation projects with other countries.
Leveraging its expertise in renewable energy, energy conservation, environmental protection and clean production and employing Chinese technology, products and experience, China actively promotes BRI cooperation in green development, according to the white paper titled “The Belt and Road Initiative: A Key Pillar of the Global Community of Shared Future.”
In Ethiopia, where the rich renewable energy resources, including wind and hydroelectric power, are estimated to generate more than 60,000 megawatts of electrical power, China helped build projects, such as the Adama wind farms, situated in a range of rocky hills in the Ethiopian highlands, and the 254 MW hydroelectric power Genale-Dawa III.
Besides utilizing local renewable energy resources, China also stresses environmental protection in energy development.
In building the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, which runs through wildlife reserves such as Nairobi National Park and Tsavo National Park, a series of measures have been taken during the railway’s design and construction.
There are 14 large wildlife passageways and 79 bridges along the railway, and the bridge-type animal passages are over 6.5 meters in height, making it easy for large animals, such as elephants and giraffes, to pass. In addition, isolation fences have been set up on both sides of the line to reduce contact between the animals and trains.
The cooperation on green and low-carbon energy development is not limited to country-to-country cooperation.
China has reached environmental cooperation agreements with more than 30 countries and international organizations, launched the Initiative for Belt and Road Partnership on Green Development with 31 countries, and formed the Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition with more than 150 partners from 40-plus countries, the white paper said.
China stands ready to work with other countries to pursue closer and more fruitful cooperation under the BRI framework and build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world, it said.
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