China plays pivotal role in enhancing clean energy capacity worldwide: IRENA chief

China plays a pivotal role in boosting clean energy capacity around the world, said the head of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) during an interview in Beijing.

On Monday, the State Grid Corporation hosted the 2025 International Forum on Energy and Power Transition in Beijing, centered on the theme "Accelerating Energy Transition with New Power Systems."

The event highlighted key technologies such as flexible DC grid connections for offshore wind power and advanced grid control systems designed to stabilize grids with high renewable energy penetration.

According to the latest report from IRENA, China alone accounted for 64 percent of the global increase in renewable energy capacity in 2024.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Francesco La Camera, the director-general of IRENA commended China's role in boosting clean energy capacity domestically and internationally.

"China plays a double role. One is domestically, with raising installed capacity of renewables. Last year, worldwide, I think 60 percent of the other renewable capacity was coming from China. The scale of renewables domestically is [unprecedented]. The other aspect is China has been able to provide the world with technology, with low carbon, low price for the [solar] panels for example," he said.

The IRENA chief also highlighted that the international community is working together to push ahead with efforts to lift clean energy capacity to contribute to low-carbon development.

"It's amazing to see the progress. Every year, a new record of renewable installed capacity. Last year, 94 percent of power capacity installed was renewables. We see what China is doing to have more renewables into a new system, with interconnectivity among the grids, ensuring the flexibility and the balancing. This applies for every energy system in the world. So, this three areas has to be overcome, especially in areas like Africa and Southeast Asia, where the population and energy demand will be increasing faster in the years to come. So, it's important, especially the multilateral system may rewrite the way international cooperation works," he said.

China plays pivotal role in enhancing clean energy capacity worldwide: IRENA chief

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight