The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) administrator Achim Steiner has commended China for being a forerunner in global green development.
In a recent interview with China Global Television Network, Steiner emphasized that China's green development initiatives are opening new opportunities that benefit both the country and the world.
"The fact that we have seen this year's automotive market, i.e., the mobility sector in China, having almost every second vehicle sold being an electric vehicle, nobody would have predicted that five years ago. So, you can see that technology policy transition has reached a point of scale, where in fact China has an enormous opportunity to decarbonize its economy, but also to become a leader in the global context in that green economy or in the green technology sectors that will drive development tomorrow," he said.
Meanwhile, he noted that China has integrated a green transition into its economic development and is poised to achieve even greater progress through continued green initiatives in the future.
"China today has a way of both monitoring but also of using the traditional system to hold those accountable in government, outside government, who are breaking the law. The law that prohibits pollution, that can poison people, can kill people. And I think this is an entire system of evolving economy, governance, society. And this is what, in many ways, is the challenge that I see as the head of the UN development program, UNDP, today all over the world. And both the green transition and the digital transition are two major drivers of the future of development. The interesting thing is that China is today at the point where it has succeeded in making the transition towards a green economy not only a challenge in terms of investments and costs, it's actually creating the jobs of the future, the economic sectors of the future. In China, next year, more solar and wind power will be produced than in the whole rest of the world put together in terms of infrastructure being built," said Steiner.
China emerges as forerunner in global green development: UNDP official
