China is rapidly becoming the global face of clean energy leadership—a surprise to those who still associate green innovation with Western nations. In January 2025, the United States—once celebrated as a climate policy trailblazer—began its second withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, undoing its reentry from February 2021 under President Biden. This shift coincided with China’s dramatic rise as the new global leader in clean energy and possibly AI leadership, (although that last point is more hotly debated than the scorching summer days we’re suffering everywhere now.)
It’s a déjà vu moment for U.S. climate policy. Back on June 1, 2017, President Trump stood in the (now paved over) Rose Garden and declared: “In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect the United States and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord…The bottom line is that the Paris Accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States.” Trump also claimed the agreement would “undermine our economy, hamstring our workers, and effectively decapitate our coal industry,” calling it “a massive redistribution of United States’ wealth to other countries…That’s not going to happen while I’m president, I’m sorry”.
Biden’s restoration of U.S. involvement four years later came with the words: “We can no longer delay or do the bare minimum to address climate change. This is a global, existential crisis. And we will reassert a leadership role in climate action”.
In January 2025, as the Trump administration began its second term, it quickly initiated the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, framing the move as vital for “America First” energy policy. As global attention now turns to the annual Paris negotiations, this earlier decision is making headlines again—especially as world energy demands soar with the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and data center growth.
Indeed, Trump signed the paperwork to pull the US from the Accords almost immediately after taking office:
“I am immediately withdrawing the unfair one-sided climate accord rip-off. The United States will not undermine our own industries while China pollutes without consequence”.- President Donald Trump
China’s Relentless Clean Energy and AI Surge
China is now the unchallenged global supplier of solar panels (producing about 80% of the world’s total) and over 70% of all electric vehicles, propelling costs for solar and other clean energy technologies lower—sometimes by 90% compared to a decade ago—making the energy transition accessible for countries across the world. Its fast-growing battery and wind turbine sectors have turned it into the linchpin of global renewable supply chains, effectively removing price barriers for poorer economies.
But China’s revolution is fueled not just by hardware, but by software: artificial intelligence is now central to how China manages its energy grids, forecasts renewable output, and meets surging demand from both manufacturing and the rise of digital and robotic automation. Chinese energy networks use AI to balance supply and demand, optimize clean energy mix, and manage the growing complexities of grid reliability.
Efforts extend beyond domestic borders. Since 2022, China has invested in clean technology factories in over 50 countries, stopped funding foreign coal plants, and poured billions into global renewables—shaping the trajectories of energy policy in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. New diplomatic efforts like the “Africa Solar Belt” have enabled the roll-out of solar power to nearly 50,000 households, further empowering the clean energy surge in the Global South.
Unlike China’s enormous expansion in solar, wind, and clean tech exports, its international coal plant construction shows a radical change in direction. As of 2022, China announced a policy to halt all funding for new coal power plants abroad, effectively ending its role as the world’s largest financer of overseas coal projects.
Leading the World in Clean Energy—And Still Building Coal Plants (Domestically)
Despite China’s global leadership in clean energy and technology exports, its energy transition at home still faces major challenges. Domestically, China remains heavily reliant on coal, commissioning 21 GW of new coal-fired power in the first half of 2025—the highest six-month total since 2016—with full-year additions expected to exceed 80 GW. This surge in new coal plants runs counter to China’s climate ambitions, even as the nation delivered a modest 1.6% decrease in carbon emissions in the first half of 2025, thanks largely to record investments in renewables and grid modernization.
While China has stopped funding new coal projects abroad to focus on its international clean energy reputation, at home coal remains a crucial—though declining—part of its power mix (down to about 50% from 75% in 2016). China’s use of AI and robotics is revolutionizing the efficiency and scalability of green infrastructure, helping renewable energy meet rising demand and slowly squeeze coal’s dominance. Nonetheless, the persistence of structural and local reliance on coal power shows that China’s energy transition is both impressive and incomplete.
Green Leadership with Serious Caveats
While China’s record-breaking investments in solar, wind, and electric vehicles have made it the world’s dominant supplier of clean technology, its overall climate record is much more complex.
Even as China has installed more renewables than any other country—now accounting for nearly 40% of its total power generation in 2025—it still receives a “Highly insufficient” rating from Climate Action Tracker. This poor rating is due to the country’s continued approval and construction of new coal-fired power plants and emissions targets that fall short of what’s required to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal.
China’s new climate plan aims for a decrease of just 7-10% in greenhouse gas emissions from peak levels by 2035—a conservative target that’s unlikely to drive deeper reductions beyond what current policies already deliver. The country risks missing its own carbon intensity reduction goals unless it accelerates coal phase-down and enhances industrial decarbonization.
Why the “Green Leader” Label Still Fits
Yet, in practical terms, China’s leadership in clean energy manufacturing, deployment, and diplomacy is reshaping global markets. By exporting affordable solar panels, wind turbines, and EVs, China is enabling the global transition at a scale that no other country matches. Experts argue that Beijing’s ability to lower technology costs and drive clean energy growth worldwide—even as it struggles with its own coal reliance—amounts to a new kind of climate and economic leadership.China leads in greening the world, but is not yet a model of deep, Paris-aligned climate ambition. Its progress is real, but its gaps must be acknowledged.
And, that brings us back to the other global leader showing some gaps in climate action: the United States.
America’s Decisive Decade: Data, Policy, and Climate
As the U.S. steps back from climate commitments, the rapid expansion of AI and data center infrastructure is driving domestic electricity consumption sharply upward—by 2030, data centers could eat up 9–12% of America’s electricity, rivaling entire nations’ energy needs. Without parallel investment in clean energy, this boom risks deeper fossil fuel dependency and rising emissions. Trump administration policies now target a rollback of federal support for wind, solar, and electric vehicles, undoing much of the previous decade’s progress in favor of expanded fossil fuel exploration and deregulation.
If the United States continues on this path—prioritizing fossil fuels, paring back climate funding, and doing nothing to mitigate emissions—the next ten years will see reduced climate progress, heightened energy prices, and increasing environmental damages. U.S. emission reductions will fall short of Paris targets, and climate costs—in lives, dollars, and quality of life—will steadily mount. The consequences will be felt in worsening floods, heat waves, and economic instability, while innovative clean energy leadership shifts abroad.
America’s greatest export was once innovation; will our next be indifference in the face of catastrophe?
Additional Reading for Highly Inquisitive Minds:
Trump, Donald J. “Statement by President Trump on the Paris Climate Accord.” The White House Archives, 31 May 2017.
“United States and the Paris Agreement.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 May 2017.
“China Announces New Climate Target.” World Resources Institute. September 24, 2025
Climate Action Tracker. Country: China. Data Updated. November 6, 2025.
China’s Shift to Clean Energy is Saving the Paris Climate Accord. Wall Street Journal. November 6, 2025.
China, world’s top carbon polluter, is likely to overdeliver on its climate goals. Will that be enough? PBS. November 6, 2025.
Carbon Brief: Clear on Climate. Q&A: What does China’s new Paris Agreement pledge mean for climate action? President Xi Jinping has personally pledged to cut China’s greenhouse gas emissions to 7-10% below peak levels by 2035, while “striving to do better”. November 9, 2025.
China makes landmark pledge to cut its climate emissions. BBC. com. 24, September 2025.
#climateleadership #AIandClimate #ChinaEnergy #USClimatePolicy #parisaccords #deeplearningwiththewolf #dianawolftorres #climateemissions #cleanenergy
