Is a greener China a model for the rest of the world? Alex Wang, a professor at UCLA who spent decades practising environmental law in China, attempts to answer this in the latest in a series of short explainers by Cambridge University Press covering the impacts of China on the world.
At first glance Chinese Global Environmentalism has an academic bent, but the book works for a broader audience too. Readers new to China will benefit from Wang’s able telling of China’s transformation from environmental demon to would-be climate saviour. While more experienced China watchers will appreciate Wang’s deeper insights, particularly his discussion on whether the country’s ongoing green transition represents a new development paradigm.
That said, at less than a hundred pages, the book cannot do both perfectly, and while I finished it more informed, I found myself no more certain of Wang’s or indeed my own verdict on the central question of what Chinese environmentalism means for the world.
The genesis of China’s global environmentalism
Wang says China presents a “fragmented and imperfect process” of environmental governance, but that it has “nonetheless, over time, moved incrementally toward the achievement of environmental policy goals”. His analysis covers four overlapping components: ideology, diplomacy, economic statecraft and international cooperation. Taken together, he says, these make up “Chinese global environmentalism”. (Image: Cambridge University Press) On ideology, Wang highlights the concept of “ecological civilization” which has become closely associated with China’s leader. Indeed, Xi Jinping Thought states that ecological civilization is no less than a “profound revolution in development philosophy.” It is easy to get lost in the rhetoric. But there is also much disagreement about what the idea means. Wang cites critics who say labels like it represent utopian, technocratic solutions to solving environmental issues – all while unleashing economic growth without restraint. He cites others who see the concept as having ancient Chinese philosophical roots, such as in the Daoist saying “the Way follows nature” (道法自然). And still others who understand it as utilitarian and a summary of a China which “wields ecology to shape nature, society and space”.
Wang does his best to synthesise these disparate views under his “Chinese global environmentalism” banner. This development concept, he writes, comprises a “hodge-podge of values”, where China projects itself as defender of Global South interests with a model that can deliver green outcomes other systems cannot. But he also sees much of the official rhetoric which conveys these ideas as somewhat superficial, describing it as “a gauzy invocation of green values.”
From ideology, we move to diplomacy and here Wang’s strengths as a practising lawyer and Chinese legal scholar find better bearing. He assesses China’s involvement in global treaties, such as the Montreal Protocol to address ozone depletion and the Paris Agreement on climate change. His analysis focuses on how China’s growth story has endowed it with greater leadership on green diplomacy.
Wang also provides a useful historical overview of Chinese environmental diplomacy. Before 1979, this was driven by ideology and was combative, broadly blaming environmental problems on capitalism and US imperialism. As China embarked on changes in the reform and opening period, it was defensive and asserted its “right to development” as a poor country. As it became more integrated into the world economy, full-throttled-reform China was pragmatic, agreeing to meet international environmental standards to enable exports to signatories of the Montreal Protocol. And now, today, in dare I say a post-reform era, China exudes unmistakeable confidence. Recommended The announcement of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, the founding of new multilateral institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, and China’s confident co-stewardship at the Paris climate talks, all point to rising international stature. Wang describes China now as a “climate diplomacy juggernaut.” He says it has won praise for this green diplomacy, becoming the first major developing country to announce a net-zero target. This foreshadowed its global dominance in clean technology – renewable energy, batteries, electric vehicles and other sectors – which it is now pushing in the realm of economic statecraft and international cooperation. But with great power comes great responsibility, and there is shadow in the silver lining, which is explored in the second half of the book.
A model for the world?
As mentioned, this new, more confident China says its green development presents a “ profound revolution ” in the understanding of development (发展观的深刻革命). But what has the global reception been? Here the book lays the case for and against the claim, drawing on extensive literature review and interviews. Divergent views are evident, for example, on China’s role in global energy sectors, which dominates its overseas investments and lending. Critics decry that this has been overwhelmingly oriented toward fossil-fuel projects. While proponents say China is merely responding to the requests of the Global South.
To its credit and for a variety of reasons mentioned in the book, China ceased overseas coal financing in 2021, and is investing more in renewable energy, electric vehicles and other supporting technologies in developing countries. But how much of that has to do with China being a responsible global stakeholder? And how much is it merely exploiting its advantages as the world’s biggest producer of green technology? Recommended The book presents further evidence for us to consider. There is a detailed review of Chile’s engagement with China to secure investment, trade and green development opportunities while managing geopolitical risk. Wang calls this a “pragmatic response to China’s rise.” This part is helpful in giving a recipient country’s perspective of China’s overseas engagement. He unpacks the country’s international cooperation efforts, such as the Belt and Road Initiative Green Development Council and the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development. These, he says, illustrate China’s hallmarks of cautious diplomacy: an emphasis on public decorum, voluntary rather than binding standards, and low-risk collaboration such as research. Wang also delves into project-specific cases such as the Kenyan Standard Gauge Railway and the Lancang-Mekong Environmental Cooperation, which show the on-the-ground realities of China’s involvement in infrastructure projects. These are often messy, complicated, and require trade-offs.
The book resists affirmatively answering the fundamental question on whether “Chinese global environmentalism” presents a model the world can emulate. Despite its now full transition from “airpocalypse” capital to climate tech juggernaut, sentiment remains sceptical in the west, where China is now often seen as a strategic competitor. Environmental issues are increasingly interlinked with industrial and security issues, and criticism of China’s environmental governance has shifted to encompass allegations of unfair trade practices, espionage, human rights abuse and the hollowing out of western industrial capacity.
Near the book’s conclusion, Wang summates: “China’s promotion of Chinese global environmentalism is a strategic effort motivated primarily by economic development and security objectives”. I would have liked greater expansion of this. How does China’s global environmentalism fit in President Xi’s “great rejuvenation” of the Chinese nation? Is it a strategy to displace the US and seek global hegemony? Or does it seek to enforce existing international norms in an increasingly challenging geopolitical environment? But perhaps my wishing for these answers is really asking for a different book than the one Wang intended to write.
Wang’s compact treatise sheds much-needed light on today’s Green China. It is the work of someone who has spent decades understanding and contributing to the development of a rising power, and it is full of pithy and humble observations. Early in the book, Wang quotes political scientist Alexander Wendt who said, “500 British nuclear weapons are less threatening to the United States than 5 North Korea nuclear weapons”. From here, Wang delivers one of his best insights: who states are understood to be, matters in international relations . China has made incredible strides on its green achievements, but understanding China – that remains a work in progress.
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