China's environmental codification provides a foundation for its continued green development

China passed the Ecological and Environmental Code in March, covering climate action, nature protection and pollution control. It lays a strong legal foundation for China's push toward green and low-carbon development. This is not just good for the environment; it's smart governance.

With the global supply of fossil fuels in disarray, China's rapid advances in the deployment of renewable energy are already helping shield the country from the worst shocks. The share of clean energy in China and the sector's contribution to economic growth have been rising consistently in recent years. Electric cars and scooters now dominate the streets, and are rapidly incorporating cutting-edge features such as self-driving technology. Modern public transport systems are also being rolled out at a rapid pace, reducing the reliance on personal vehicles. By now, the share of oil and gas in China's primary energy supply is substantially lower than that in the United States and the European Union.

China is proving to the world what environmental advocates have been saying for decades: Green and low-carbon development can be firmly intertwined with economic growth, innovation, energy independence, improvements in living standards and long-term sustainability.

China's adoption of the Ecological and Environmental Code provides a solid legal basis upon which it will continue on its green development path, no matter the external circumstances. It mandates the Chinese government to "actively participate in and play a leading role in global climate governance". This is significant, especially in the face of certain other major economies retreating from multilateralism and global environmental governance. The code also provides a much-needed legal basis for China's national carbon market, which is the largest in the world.

The code gives greater certainty to China's implementation of international conventions on climate change, biodiversity and desertification, by legally mandating the government to fulfill its obligations under international treaties. And it will promote new conventions, such as the one on plastics which is currently being negotiated, and the newly ratified treaty to protect the high seas, known as the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Agreement. China's role is indispensable in addressing the rapid loss of fish in the oceans.

I've lived in China for almost 25 years, and personally experienced the remarkable improvements in environmental quality.

The most obvious change has been the reduction in air pollution. In late 2013, the government started to disclose real-time air quality data. Back then, Beijing's sky would regularly turn gray and hazy, as the air quality index maxed out at 500. This went viral on newly available social media, sparking a national public outcry, which greatly strengthened the government's resolve to tackle the problem. An intense campaign followed, and the average annual PM2.5 density dropped from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 58 mcg/cu m in 2017, and further to 27 mcg/cu m in 2025.

Similarly, remarkable improvements have been made in surface water quality, afforestation, biodiversity conservation, waste management and more. Tangible progress is being made in the building of a "Beautiful China". Although there are still instances of pollution and much more work needs to be done, most of the time we can see blue skies and breathe fresh air.

And then there is the energy transition. Solar and wind are being deployed at truly astonishing rates. In 2025, China's clean energy electricity generation from hydro, nuclear, wind, solar and other sources reached 4.25 trillion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 14.4 percent. To better manage the variable output of these new power sources, the deployment of grid-level energy storage is now a top priority. In the coming years, technological improvements and economies of scale are also expected to result in a rapid lowering of the cost of battery storage.

This combination of affordable renewables and power storage is poised to profoundly change the world. In the near future, building a brand new solar or wind power plant with storage capacity is going to be cheaper than running an existing coal-fired power plant. At that point, a large number of fossil fuel projects will become loss-making assets.

With all the upheaval in global energy markets, energy security has risen to the top of national priorities. Structural dependence on fossil fuels is leaving societies and economies exposed to shocks that drive insecurity, higher costs and greater fragility. That dependence can be cut by accelerating the shift to clean, renewable and resilient energy systems.

Oil and gas markets are volatile, politicized and conflict-prone. Building more fossil fuel infrastructure perpetuates external dependence and carries increasing financial risk, on top of aggravating the climate disaster.

To my surprise, some in the international community argue that it would be risky for their economies to be dependent on imported solar panels, wind turbines or batteries. The current situation is a perfect illustration of how this argument doesn't make sense. Supply disruptions of oil and gas are leading to very real economic disruptions, especially in developing economies from Southeast Asia to Africa. High oil and gas prices are also driving up energy bills in the US and Europe.

By contrast, renewables, once installed, keep producing power at almost no cost, helping to shield against these impacts. Plainly put, a disruption in the supply of oil and gas risks grinding economies to a halt, whereas a shortage of solar panels only risks causing economies to miss their climate targets.

Renewables are also much more dependable in a situation of conflict. Fossil and nuclear power plants are large facilities, which makes them vulnerable to attacks. Nuclear is a very scary source of power in a conflict situation, given that damage to a facility could lead to a nuclear disaster with lasting regional consequences.

China's progress in green technologies has long been underestimated by policymakers and incumbent industries in advanced economies. However, it can no longer be ignored. Now is the time to take a clear-eyed view of these successes, and build upon China's experience.

Economies around the world, including developing and emerging ones, have the potential to play a greater role in rapidly growing global green tech supply chains. By working with China, some have the opportunity to leapfrog past fossil fuels, directly into resilient low-carbon economies.

There is much room for cooperation.

The author is the chief representative for China at ClientEarth, and the special advisor to the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.

The author contributed this article to China Watch, a think tank powered by China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

Contact the editor at editor@chinawatch.cn.