China's Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South

China has positioned itself as a leader in green technology transfer to the Global South, utilizing the Belt and Road Initiative and the South–South Climate Cooperation Fund to deploy renewable energy, green agriculture, and electric vehicle technologies. While achieving significant scale—including exporting photovoltaic modules to over 100 countries—the brief identifies critical challenges: a gap between environmental commitments and actual impacts, deficiencies in ESG disclosure, geopolitical tensions, and limited local operational capacity. To improve sustainability, the document recommends enhancing transparency, aligning with global ESG standards, and fostering locally led innovation ecosystems through active partner ownership and capacity building.

• China utilizes several financial and strategic frameworks to facilitate green technology transfer, including the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the South–South Climate Cooperation Fund (SSCCF). The SSCCF is specifically designed to enhance "climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing countries," with China spending approximately $72 million annually on South–South climate cooperation.
• China's green technology exports have reached a global scale, with photovoltaic modules exported to more than 100 countries and regions and wind power equipment sent to over 70 countries.
• Specific regional partnerships include the ChinaAfrica Clean Energy Technology Demonstration Centre in Kenya and the ASEAN Green Technology Demonstration Centre in Thailand. In Southeast Asia, China has established low-carbon demonstration zones in Cambodia and Laos, and provided new energy vehicles and clean cookstoves to ASEAN members.
• Beyond energy, China promotes green agriculture through 'Juncao technology', which allows for mushroom cultivation using dried, chopped grass to avoid deforestation. This technology has been implemented in 17 countries in the Global South.
• The document identifies a significant gap between China's environmental pledges and the actual outcomes of its projects, noting that some BRI projects have not fully compensated for "environmental degradation and resource overuse."
• China faces challenges regarding environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure due to technical barriers in auditing and accounting, which has been linked to socio-environmental issues such as ecosystem disruption and community displacement.
• A primary bottleneck for the sustainability of green projects is the limited local capacity to operate and maintain advanced technologies, leading to a heavy reliance on external Chinese expertise.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2024). China's Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South. https://saiia.org.za/research/chinas-climate-and-energy-partnerships-in-the-global-south/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. China's Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South. 2024. https://saiia.org.za/research/chinas-climate-and-energy-partnerships-in-the-global-south/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=China's Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South |date=25 July 2024 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/chinas-climate-and-energy-partnerships-in-the-global-south/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2024chinas, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{China's Climate and Energy Partnerships in the Global South}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2024}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/chinas-climate-and-energy-partnerships-in-the-global-south/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }