Sheep flock are feeding under photovoltaic panels in Kangbao county, Zhangjiakou city of Hebei province. Up to July, 2023, the installed capacity of green energy in Zhangjiakou has accounted about 80 percent of the total installed power capacity. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

Edited by TANG Zhexiao

Many countries located in the northern hemisphere have been experiencing heatwaves this summer. And with the UN confirmed the return of El Nino, Earth is setting record global temperatures at a record pace.

"If we persist in delaying key measures that are needed, I think we are moving into a catastrophic situation, as the last two records in temperature demonstrates," Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told The Guardian, referring to the world temperature records broken on July 3.

As sea surface temperatures reaching "unprecedented" levels, record [high] temperatures on land and in the oceans will have potentially devastating impacts on ecosystems and the environment, said Radio France Internationale.

According to the Canadian Ministry of Natural Resources, the number of wildfires in Canada was "off the charts", with 670 recorded on July 7. These recent events show that the challenge of global climate change to human society is becoming increasingly severe.

As other countries debate, argue, shift blame and pontificate while the world burns, China has implemented a wide range of projects to tackle its own carbon footprint head-on, with an approach that is multifaceted, technology-focused and scalable, Quentin Parker，an astrophysicist based at the University of Hong Kong，said in South China Morning Post.

"A wave of actions is unfolding in China," said Parker, citing the 2 MW liquid-fuelled thorium molten salt reactor (MSR) in Gansu and the hybrid solar-hydro Kela power plant in the Yalong River plateau in Sichuan as demonstration projects.

Official data from National Development and Reform Commission showed China's energy intensity, which refers to the amount of energy consumed per unit of GDP, reduced by 26.4 percent in the past ten years.

However, strides and achievements made in the green energy field goes much more further. China is poised to double its wind and solar capacity, if all prospective projects are successfully built and commissioned, according to a new report from Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based NGO. This, would hit the target the country set in 2020 of having 1,200 GW of panels and turbines by 2030, five years in advance.

The report also finds that right now China has more solar panels installed in large-scale projects than the rest of the world combined.

Wind and solar power are booming in China and the "green power surge will offer hope on warming," said the BBC.

John Kerry, U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, praised China's incredible job expanding renewable energy sources during his visit to Beijing on July 17, The Washington Post reported.

Green and low-carbon transformation is now globally accepted.

While undertaking its own green transformation, China has actively promoted international cooperation on climate and green development.

International collaboration on climate response and the aid for developing countries to level up their capacity to fight climate change through joint construction of low-carbon demonstration zones will be enhanced, according to a statement by the First High-Level Conference of the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development in Beijing on July 10.

Ahmed Latheef, Maldivian foreign secretary, said during the forum that the Maldives appreciates China's commitment to addressing climate change and achieving green development. The Maldives hopes to further cooperate with China in the blue economy sector and jointly promote the sustainable development of oceans and seas, he added.