China Leading the World in Green Tech

As Donald Trump pulls out of the Paris climate change agreement, China seizes the opportunities of Renewable Energy Technology

There’s are strict etiquette rules around gift giving in China. Traditionally it’s during Chinese New Year when one exchanges generous and often extravagant gifts. It’s not uncommon for people to get large quantities of cash, for example — usually presented in red envelopes for good luck. Choosing the wrong color gift-wrap or giving “unlucky number” money amounts can cause serious offense.

Cultural sensitivity has never been Donald Trump’s forte, however, so it’s hardly surprising he overlooked the fact that these celebrations happen in January/February (depending on the Lunar calendar). Yet considering the size of the red envelope that America just handed President Xi Jinping they’ll probably let that slide.

By pulling out of the Paris agreement, the US President has gifted China with the opportunity of a lifetime: To save the planet from climate change, while making lots and lots of money in the process. And the strangest twist of all isn’t that Trump has done this at the expense of the US economy, but the fact this bizarre turn of events might not turn out to be such bad news for the planet after all.

China might not be the hero Gotham expected, but it’s the hero it needs right now. Because the country which four years ago was burning almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined is now the country which has just overtaken Germany to become the world’s biggest producer of solar energy. If anybody can show us how to meet ultra-ambitious targets and pull off projects on a massive scale, they’re probably it.

Continue reading the article on Quartz

Originally published at Tech Trends.