President Ranil officially launched the International Climate Change University (ICCU) while in the UAE. It will be good for Sri Lankans irrespective of race & religion if they understand the serious threat President is talking about. The global community realizing the seriousness of climate change is working hard for an energy revolution with low carbon & non carbonized energy. Developing clean energy is the foremost choice of countries with populations with a vision. Being the world’s largest energy consumer, China has so far cooperated with approx. 100 countries & regions on green energy projects along the Belt & Road Initiative. From January till September 2023, China added 172 million kilowatts of clean energy to its existing clean energy grid (93 % increase YoY - Ref. National Energy Administration).

Carbon Neutral Highway

Towards east along the ancient Silk Road from the deserts of the UAE is the ‘Tarim’ desert highway. It runs through the ‘Taklimakan’ desert (world's 2^nd largest shifting sand desert) in Xinjiang (Uygur Autonomous Region). China recently announced that it is a zero carbon highway as a result of the unique transformation project completed in 2023. It was the irrigation system along the highway’s shelterbelt & the highway is a testimony to China's commitment to honor global carbon goals by 2060. The shrubs along the highway are irrigated using solar powered pumps instead of pumps consuming diesel. It will reduce diesel consumption by approx. 1,000 tonnes & CO2 emissions by approx 3,410 tonnes annually (Ref. Petro China). In SL trees along the A9 road were cleared for security reasons during the conflict. More trees can be reintroduced along the A9 road as a step to increase SL contribution to face climate change.

Fujian offshore wind power base

China started constructing the offshore wind power base in Fujian last week. It will consist of a land test center & a test wind farm. Once completed in 2024 the base will support research on large scale offshore wind turbines etc. Fuqing city in Fujian is known for offshore wind power equipment industry & in 2023 February China’s first 13 megawatt typhoon resistant offshore wind turbine with the largest single unit capacity & the largest impeller diameter in Asia propelled the production in the city (Fujian sources). It will be encouraging if regional powers such as India & China work together in similar projects. Small nations such as SL can also benefit avoiding conflicting situations as in the past concerning power generation in Northern Sri Lanka.

Scenic beauty through Zero carbon

The ‘Huangshan’ mountain range is a UNESCO world heritage site located in China & it became the first zero carbon mountainous scenic area in China recently. Regional authorities took many steps to achieve this goal. Some notable are the; vegetation carbon sequestration conservation, introduction of alternative energy sources, creating green scenes & smart tourism etc. Smart tourism includes; allowing only clean food within the area & rotational closure of scenic spots etc. As over 4 million Chinese & foreign tourists visit the range annually it is vital for coexistence between humans & nature (Ref. Green BRI sources). As per International Energy Agency's expectations, clean energy technology market will reach approx 650 billion USD by 2030. It is expected to generate approx 14 million job opportunities associated with clean energy manufacturing. Institutions such as the newly established ICCU will have to take the centre stage & many more such institutions will be needed for the sake of humanity (Views expressed are personal).