Green revolution emerges in smokestack China

LONDON (Reuters) – China, pilloried as the world’s biggest polluter, has quietly taken a lead in moving to a low carbon economy, an independent climate advisory group said on Friday.

Although it is building one coal-fired power station a week and its carbon dioxide emissions have surged since 2002, from seven percent of the global total to more than 24 percent, China is also making strides in renewable energy and green technology.

“Everybody sees China as this monster polluter, but it is doing so much more than that,” said Changhua Wu, China director of The Climate Group — an independent, non-profit organization advising business and governments on combating climate change.

“China is already leading in certain types of technologies. In the power sector it is in clean coal, solar, wind. In transport it is developing more efficient compact cars and electric cars,” she told Reuters in London, where she is launching the report, “China’s Clean Revolution”.

She noted, however, that China still had a long way to go.

Reuters