The Climate Question China's green energy revolution
China is installing solar panels and wind turbines so fast that its greenhouse gases emissions may now have peaked. If this trend is confirmed, it would be a major milestone in the fight against climate change because China is the world's largest polluter.
The BBC’s Beijing Correspondent Laura Bicker has travelled across China to see the country’s clean energy revolution first hand.
She’s visited solar farms in the deserts of Inner Mongolia and in the tea plantations of Yunnan. Laura even discovered a huge lake with panels floating on the surface!
But she also saw how China’s addiction to coal is continuing – with new power plants still being built and many poorer Chinese needing to burn coal to get through the winter.
In this edition of The Climate Question, Laura chats about her reporting with hosts Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar. They discuss whether the world’s biggest polluter is moving fast enough to meet its green energy targets, and what that means for China and the rest of the world.
Got a question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@BBC.com
Presenters: Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar Guest: Laura Bicker, BBC China Correspondent Producer in China: Joyce Liu Production Team in London: Simon Watts and Grace Braddock Sound Mix: Philip Bull and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts
Image: BBC - Solar panels in Yunnan, China