HELSINKI, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's rapid expansion in renewable energy and growing exports of green technologies are making an important contribution to global efforts to combat climate change, Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported Saturday, highlighting the country's progress in stabilizing carbon emissions and helping reduce emissions worldwide.
In a report from the ongoing 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, the newspaper noted that China's carbon emissions have stopped rising and leveled off, largely thanks to the country's rapid growth in solar and wind power generation in recent years.
Beyond its domestic green transition, China's exports of solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles are also helping reduce emissions in other countries. The newspaper estimated that such exports, primarily of solar panels, could help avoid around 450 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions this year.
"China made the right investments very early on. We in the West should congratulate them for that insight," Swedish climate scientist Johan Rockstrom told the newspaper.
Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, said China's early investments in clean energy had helped the country establish a leading position in technologies essential to the global green transition, underscoring the importance of long-term investment and early action in tackling climate change.
The newspaper also highlighted China's latest climate commitments, including its pledge to reduce economy-wide net greenhouse gas emissions by 7 to 10 percent from peak levels by 2035.
Welcoming the commitment, Rockstrom noted that China had a tendency to set relatively modest climate targets and then exceed them. He said experts believed China could reach its emissions peak ahead of its 2030 target, as the country's transition away from fossil fuels was progressing faster than expected.
Mattias Frumerie, Sweden's Climate Ambassador and Chief Climate Negotiator, also welcomed China's quantified emissions reduction target, describing it as "a step in the right direction."
Frumerie also told Svenska Dagbladet that he is confident in China's achievement in international climate negotiations, while acknowledging that further efforts were needed. ■
