China’s Dominance Reshapes the Global Climate Landscape

Sunday marked Sun Day, a nationwide event by climate activists coinciding with the start of New York’s Climate Week, celebrating the remarkable growth of solar power amid widespread concerns about the planet’s future.

While the global political commitment to tackling climate change has waned since the Paris Agreement a decade ago, renewable energy continues to surge forward, largely propelled by China’s emergence as a dominant force in green industries.

Despite the overall pace of the global energy transition remaining insufficient to meet climate targets, renewables made up 93 percent of new power capacity added worldwide last year, with China responsible for building 74 percent of all wind and solar projects as of July.

This development extends beyond environmental concerns, as China now exerts significant influence over key future industries. Some analysts suggest that the shift to decarbonization could serve as the foundation for a new geopolitical order, possibly sparking an eco-ideological rivalry reminiscent of a Cold War.

China’s ascendancy in the renewable sector has unsettled some observers in Western countries, where leadership in climate action was once assumed to be a moral imperative and a domain of Western influence. The rapid progress by China challenges these assumptions and compels a reassessment of global energy transition dynamics.

The scale of China’s renewable energy projects is staggering: in the first half of 2025 alone, the country installed more solar capacity than the United States has ever achieved historically, and twice the combined solar additions of the rest of the world during that period. India ranks second, with the U.S. third. Additionally, China has invested over $200 billion in green manufacturing overseas since 2022—a figure surpassing the inflation-adjusted value of the Marshall Plan.