This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: China's dominance of key green technologies is helping to subsidize the global transition to a low-carbon economy, but trade tensions could make it harder for other countries to meet their climate targets, according to a new report led by researchers at The University of Manchester. The report argues that China's large-scale support for green industries has helped make technologies like batteries, electric vehicles and solar power cheaper and more widely available.
However, China's dominance is also making it increasingly difficult for European and U.S. companies to compete, creating a dilemma for governments seeking to decarbonize while protecting their own domestic industries. The report says China now occupies a leading position across many of the technologies needed for the green transition, including solar, wind, batteries, hydrogen and electric vehicles. Its dominance has helped drive down the cost of these technologies, but this has also created growing geopolitical and economic tensions.
"China's dominance of green technology presents a fundamental dilemma for governments," said lead author Dr. James Jackson of The University of Manchester's Sustainable Consumption Institute. "The world needs these technologies to decarbonize, but efforts to compete with China risk making the transition more expensive and more difficult." The authors argue that countries should focus more heavily on cooperation—particularly where access to affordable green technologies is essential to meeting climate targets.
The report identifies green technology as an opportunity to improve U.K.–China relations following a period of strained diplomatic ties. It recommends that the U.K. seek closer trading relationships with China while maintaining the ability to challenge Beijing on other issues such as human rights. Among its recommendations, the report says the U.K. should encourage Chinese EV manufacturers to establish production facilities in Britain while using the country's expertise in financial services to support investment in green technologies.
It also recommends that the Bank of England consider measures used by China's central bank to support the development of green industries. "The U.K. has a great opportunity to benefit from China's expertise in green manufacturing while using its own strengths in areas such as financial services. Deeper cooperation could support both decarbonization and the U.K.'s ambitions to develop a stronger green economy," Jackson said.
Report: Subsidising Global Decarbonisation: China–UK Relations BA art history, MA material culture. Former museum editor, paramedic, and transplant coordinator. Editing for Science X since 2021.
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