\u201cThis \u2018climate change,\u2019 it\u2019s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,\u201d\u00a0 \u2014 US President Donald Trump, UN General Assembly speech, September 23, 2025<\/p>\n
Western commentators often point to what they claim to be the key, if not foundational, role that Western nations have played in setting up a new green-based world order. \u200bThis is because the post-WWII international system has been dominated by institutions like the UN, World Bank, and IMF, which were largely designed by Western powers. Although not initially \u201cgreen,\u201d these institutions have been the main vehicles through which global environmental and climate governance has developed.<\/p>\n
It is also indisputable that the West is primarily responsible for the environmental and climate change challenges found in the world. The development and dominance of the West was built on systems of exploitation of natural resources and raw materials following the advent of the Industrial Revolution in the mid nineteenth century. This in turn ushered in the new era of colonialism which exploited the land, natural resources and labour of the South in Asia, Africa and Latin America.<\/p>\n
Today we have to deal with the aftermath of this continuing epoch of resource exploitation and environmental degradation; and its impact on ecosystems and human society. These repercussions manifest as habitat destruction and air and water pollution, while their global reach can be seen in climate change effects including sea level rise, the retreat of glaciers and ice caps, and increased natural disasters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The West\u2019s progress and prosperity built on carbon-intensive development and the unprecedented enhanced exploitation of other countries means that they have a moral and historical obligation to lead the transition to a green order.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But there is also no dispute that the transition to a truly \u201cgreen world order\u201d has to be a global collective challenge and action problem that requires the full commitment of all nations including emerging economic powers.<\/p>\n
West Rebuffs China\u2019s Green Technology\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among countries in the global South seen as key to the emergence of the new green world order,\u00a0 China has received special attention due to its position as the second largest economy by nominal GDP and largest by purchasing power parity (PPP), making it a major player in industry, trade and innovation. The fact that China is a major contributor to global warming as well as a world leader in manufacturing and deploying green technology like solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles is undeniable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, its positive contributions continue to be framed negatively or downplayed in Western media and political discourse. .<\/p>\n
These are the geopolitical reasons why China\u2019s green technology contribution is not highlighted and appreciated :<\/p>\n
Strategic Competition and Rivalry: The overarching context is the US-China strategic competition. In this framework, technology leadership is not just an economic issue but perceived as a core national security interest.<\/p>\n
Zero-Sum Game Perception: The West, led by the US, often views technological dominance as a zero-sum game. If China leads in green tech, it means the West is falling behind. Acknowledging China\u2019s success is seen as conceding a critical strategic advantage in the industry of the future.<\/p>\n
Control over Supply Chains: Green technology is essential for energy independence. Relying on China for solar panels, batteries, and critical minerals is seen as a vulnerability. Highlighting China\u2019s dominance underscores this dependency, which is a politically defeatist narrative for Western policymakers.<\/p>\n
National Security Threat: Chinese technology, particularly from companies like Huawei and DJI, is often labeled a security risk. This attempt to \u201csecuritization\u201d of technology taints the entire sector, making it difficult to separate legitimate security concerns from competitive economic advantages.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cOvercapacity\u201d Narrative:\u00a0 The US and EU have accused China of creating \u201covercapacity\u201d in green tech, arguing that massive state subsidies lead to overproduction. They claim this floods global markets with cheap products, unfairly undermining and bankrupting Western companies. This framing paints China not as a contributor but as a market disruptor even though state policies of support to industries have been pioneered by the West and continue to be ongoing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
China as Alternative to Western Ideological Model\u00a0<\/p>\n
What is also evident in the new green world order is that China\u2019s success challenges the Western ideological model.<\/p>\n
State Capitalism vs. Free Markets: China\u2019s model, which involves significant state planning, subsidies, and support for national champions, is viewed as antithetical to the Western ideal of free-market competition, though the latter is only practiced in rhetoric. Acknowledging that this model can produce world-leading, innovative technology would legitimize it, which is ideologically unpalatable to many Western leaders.<\/p>\n
The \u201cChina Threat\u201d Narrative: For decades, a powerful narrative has portrayed China as an authoritarian, and now existential, threat. It is cognitively dissonant to simultaneously portray a country as a threat and a positive contributor to a global public good like climate change. The \u201cthreat\u201d narrative is so deeply entrenched that it erases the \u201ccontributor\u201d narrative.<\/p>\n
Control of Global Media and Narrative Platforms<\/p>\n
The institutions that shape global public opinion are largely Western-dominated.<\/p>\n
Agenda-Setting by Western Media: Major global news agencies (Reuters, AP), newspapers (NYT, FT, The Guardian), and broadcasters (BBC, CNN) are based in the West. Their reporting reflects Western perspectives, priorities, and geopolitical bias. Stories about China\u2019s green tech are often framed through the lens of job losses in the West, alleged intellectual property theft, or overcapacity, rather than its net positive impact on climate change cvand global decarbonization.<\/p>\n
Think Tanks and Academia: While not monolithic, influential think tanks in Washington D.C., Brussels, and elsewhere are often funded by and focused on Western interests. Their reports and policy briefs emphasize the challenges and threats posed by China\u2019s rise, which filters into media and political discourse.<\/p>\n
Conclusion<\/p>\n
The under-highlighting of China\u2019s green technology contribution is not an oversight. It is an outcome of the current geopolitical landscape as defined by the West. It is a classic case where objective facts (China\u2019s massive production and deployment of green tech) are filtered through a powerful subjective lens of strategic competition, ideological difference, and narrative control.<\/p>\n
For the West, acknowledging China\u2019s achievements in this critical field would mean conceding to a rival\u2019s superior strategy, legitimizing a different governance model, and admitting a loss of technological leadership. All of these are politically unacceptable.\u00a0 Hence, the narrative focuses on the threat posed by China\u2019s green tech dominance rather than its contribution to the global struggle to ensure a more sustainable world through a new green world order.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThis \u2018climate change,\u2019 it\u2019s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,\u201d\u00a0 \u2014 US…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[273,111,139,69,147],"class_list":{"0":"post-62421","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}