Journey to a greener future

Shift in development

Having been to China over 100 times, with his first visit in 1980, Martin Lees, former assistant secretary general at the United Nations, has been deeply engaged in China's environmental policy development.

Marveling at the country's transformation from a nation where the term "environmental industries" was unfamiliar in the 1990s to one that has now established world-leading renewable energy industries, the 82-year-old linked these significant changes to a big shift in the country's thinking about economic growth.

The country has understood that environmental protection and tackling climate change should be an integral part of its economic development strategy, he emphasized.

As one of the initiators of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, Lees stressed that "China has been one of the first countries to recognize that its economic performance to improve the well-being of the Chinese people depends on the preservation of a stable and sustainable natural environment."

The council was established in 1992 and is now chaired by Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang. Lees served three five-year terms as a member of the high-level think tank that reports to the Chinese government.

Lees said China has recognized very well that it is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and therefore that the country's interest in solving this profound systemic problem is not just an international question, but also very much a question that affects the success of the domestic economy, he explained.

Arkebe Oqubay, former senior minister and special adviser to the prime minister of Ethiopia, agrees.

China, during its early stages of opening-up and reform, which started in the late 1970s, prioritized economic revitalization and high growth. But this growth came at a significant environmental cost, he said.

China has since learned that sustainable economic growth requires a balance between economic, health and environmental considerations, he added.

"China has shown that environmental sustainability has to be a critical component of economic growth, and we Africans have an opportunity to learn from that without making major mistakes," he said.

Oqubay also pointed to China's successful implementation of an active industrial policy that promotes green development as another valuable lesson for African nations.

China's success in harnessing new technologies and industrial capacity to establish industries in alternative energy and electric vehicles demonstrates that addressing climate change and environmental sustainability can serve as both a guiding principle and a driver of economic growth, he underscored.