Green BRI: Myth or reality

President Xi Jinping introduced BRI 2.0 while addressing the 3rd BRI forum. He highlighted main features of BRI-2.0, such as connectivity, people-to-people exchange, integrity-based cooperation and high-quality cooperation, including others, and launched small but beautiful livelihood programme.

However, President Xi’s unwavering commitment to green and high-quality development was the most important part of the speech.

President Xi is a passionate believer and campaigner for green development and green BRI. Unfortunately, some countries and experts who portray BRI as non-environmentally friendly try to downplay the programme. They think President Xi’s commitment is only an eyewash. In this context, it is the right time to explore and analyse the green BRI initiative and its implementation status.

President Xi believes development without protecting environment and reducing GHG emissions would be of limited utility. Thus, right after the launch of BRI, President Xi deputed National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to devise a comprehensive policy under the BRI to promote climate-compatible and environment-friendly development.

The NDRC immediately established the Green BRI program and developed the policy for greening the BRI. The Green BRI got new impetus during 2nd BRI forum in 2019.

To pursue the goal of green BRI, numerous initiatives, including Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition (BRIGC), Silk Road Environment Programme, Green Silk Road Envoy Program, Big Data Platform, Belt and Road Environmental Technology Exchange, Transfer Centre, Green Lightning and Green Cooling Initiatives, were launched under the BRI.

The BRI International Green Development Coalition (BRIGC) is one of the leading initiatives in implementing agenda of green BRI. BRIGC is a joint venture of Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China, and over 100 international intergovernmental and non-government organisations.

The BRIGC was created with three specific objectives. First, to promote policy dialogue and communication to develop a coordinated policy and implementation plan by considering all BRI partners’ needs. Second, it acts as an environmental knowledge platform to fill the knowledge gap and share Chinese experience in implementing the green agenda.

Third, most importantly, it acts as a technology transfer platform, which can promote technology transfer from developed partners with others.

Since its launch, BRIGC has been striving hard to change the mindset and promote green growth and development policies. It has launched numerous initiatives to promote dialogue, policy coordination and knowledge creation. A few examples are BRI Green Development Case Study Report 2020, BRI and Carbon Pricing Mechanism, Biodiversity Areas and Impact Assessment in BRI-covered Areas, Green Development Guidance for BRI Projects Baseline Study (GDG), Application Guide for Enterprises and Financial Institutions, a Guide for Railways and Highways Infrastructure Sectors for GDG in 2021, etc.

In March 2022, NDRC, in collaboration with Ministry of Ecology and Environment and others, introduced new guidelines to foster implementation of the vision of green BRI. Moreover, BRIGC launched new guidelines and reports on green BRI, including Green BRI Development Outlook, China’s Action on South-South Cooperation on Climate Change, etc. BRIGC also developed Green Commodity Supply Chain Index.

China has launched “Green Investment Principles” initiative. It was jointly initiated by Green Finance Committee of China Society for Finance and Banking and City of London Corporation’s Green Finance Initiative, with the participation of Principles for Responsible Investment, Belt & Road Bankers Roundtable, Green Belt and Road Investors Alliance, World Economic Forum and Paulson Institute.

It has 39 members and 14 supporters. It is pertinent to highlight here it also has Western members, such as UK, France, etc. The Chinese Academy of Sciences developed the Silk Road Environment Programme.

This programme aims to build close cooperation with research institutes worldwide, with a focus on BRI member countries. China’s research community wants to share its experience with other countries. The Big Data Platform is another landmark initiative. It will be a major intervention in tackling environmental and climate change issues in the coming days. Data is vital in seeking truth and developing the right interventions and policies to achieve results.

Ministry of Ecology and Environment established a Belt and Road Environmental Technology Exchange and Transfer Centre, which is one of the most important initiatives. Many developing and poor countries lack technology to combat climate change. It will be interesting to see how China tries to assist these countries.

On the other hand, China is equally focused on taking concrete actions to implement the green BRI vision. It started to divert investment towards green energy, infrastructure and industry. In 2020, investment in renewable energy resources was 58.2pc, up from 19.6pc in 2014. Moreover, after President Xi Jinping’s statement, China abandoned its investment in coal power plants.

China is promoting use of technology. It worked with 29 BRI countries to build low-carbon demonstration zones to strengthen their capacity to combat climate change-related challenges. China is also putting efforts into building capacity through programmes like Green Silk Road Envoys Programme, which trains 1,500 environmental officials.

China invested almost $7.9 billion in green energy-related projects in 2023.

However, after the 3rd BRI forum, China has given new dimensions and dynamics to Green BRI agenda. It has expedited its efforts to implement Green BRI agenda. The process started with a high-level special forum on the green BRI at 3rd BRI forum, which the UN Secretary General and other dignitaries attended.

China has recently launched BRI Green and Low-Carbon Expert Network to enhance coordination with partner countries further. China has expedited process of formalising green development under BRI. For example, China-Pakistan decided to turn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) green.

China is promoting cooperation for environment-friendly transport systems and vehicles. It is offering BRI partner countries benefit of Chinese development in these sectors.

President Xi announced China will invest in building a capacity of 100,000 personnel from BRI member countries. These are only a few examples; we can find many more by analysing the BRI investment programmes.

From the discussion we can draw two conclusions. First, BRI is not only about trade, infrastructure or logistics. It equally focuses on green goals. It looks to promote resource efficiency, tackle climate change, ensure healthy and productive ecosystems and promote environmental governance. To make the BRI a genuine green programme, it also encourages use of technology, building human and financial capacity and gathering and sharing data. China is talking about green BRI and taking practical steps to make it happen.

Second, President Xi and Chinese leadership are committed and determined to deliver on the Green BRI agenda in its true spirit, creating a practical example and model of harmony between nature and humans without compromising human development. They perceive the success will help the world have a model that can assist it in tackling climate change and pursuing dream of development simultaneously.

Hence, they have deployed the right people to execute the plans, such as dynamic leader of BRIGC, Dr Zhang Jianyu, and coordinator Pang. Thus, the uncalled or self-presumed propaganda on an environmental basis against the BRI must stop here.