Bri vert: myth or reality

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

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

President Xi is a passionate believer and activist in green development and the green BRI. Unfortunately, some countries and experts who portray BRI as friendly try to downplay the program. They think that President XIS's commitment is just an eyewash. In this context, it is a good time to explore and analyze the Green BRI initiative and its implementation status.

President Xi believes that development without protecting the environment and reducing GHG emissions would be of limited use. Thus, right after the launch of BRI, President

The NDRC immediately established the Green BRI program and formulated the policy to crush the BRI. Bri Green gained new momentum at the 2nd BRI Forum in 2019.

To further the goal of Green BRI, many initiatives including Belt and Road Initiative International Green Development Coalition (BRIGC), Silk Road Environment Program, Green Silk Road Envoy Program, Big Data Platform, Belt and Road Environmental Technology Exchange, Center for transfer, green Lightning and green cooling initiatives have been launched under the BIS.

The BRI International Green Development Coalition (BRIGC) is one of the main initiatives of the Green Bri implementation program. BRIGC is a joint venture of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China and more than 100 international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.

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

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

Since its launch, Brigc has strived to change the mindset and promote green growth and development policies. He has launched numerous initiatives aimed at promoting dialogue, policy coordination and knowledge creation. Some examples are the Bri Green Development Case Study Report 2020, BRI and Carbon Pricing Mechanism, Biodiversity Zones and Impact Assessment in BRI Covered Areas, Green Development Guidance for Baseline Study of BRI Projects (GDG), Application Guide for Businesses and Financial Institutions, Guide for Railway and Highway Sectors for Infrastructure Sectors for GDG in 2021, etc.

In March 2022, NDRC, together with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and others, introduced new guidelines to further the implementation of the Green BRI vision. Additionally, BRIGC launched new guidelines and reports on Green BRI, including Green BRI Development Outlook, China Action on South-South Cooperation on Climate Change, etc. BRIGC also developed the Green Raw Materials Supply Chain Index.

China has launched Green Investment Principles Initiative. It was initially launched by the Green Finance Committee of China Society for Finance and Banking and City of London Corporations Green Finance Initiative, with the participation of Principles for Responsible Investment, Belt & Road Bankers Round Table Paulson Institute.

It has 39 members and 14 supporters. It is pertinent to highlight here, it also has Western members, like the United Kingdom, France, etc. The Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed the Silk Road Environment program.

This program aims to strengthen close cooperation with research institutes around the world, with a focus on BIS member countries. Chinas research community wants to share its experience with other countries. The Big Data platform is another landmark initiative. This will be a major intervention in the fight against environmental and climate problems in the coming days. Data is essential for seeking the truth and developing the right interventions and policies to achieve results.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has established a Belt and Road Environmental Technology Exchange and Transfer Center, 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 help these countries.

On the other hand, China is also focused on taking concrete steps to implement Bri's green vision. It has started to divert investment towards green energy, infrastructure and industry. In 2020, the investment in renewable energy resources was 58.2%, compared to 19.6% in 2014. Moreover, after President Xi Jinpings statement, China abandoned its investment in coal-fired power plants.

China promotes the use of technology. It has worked with 29 BRI countries to build low-carbon demonstration zones to strengthen their capacity to combat climate change challenges. China is also putting efforts into capacity building through programs such as the Green Silk Road Envoys Program, which trains 1,500 environmental officials.

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

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

China recently launched Bri Green and a low-carbon expert network to further improve coordination with partner countries. China has accelerated the process of formalizing green development under BRI. For example, China-Pakistan has decided to transform the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

China promotes cooperation for environmentally friendly transportation systems and vehicles. It offers BRI partner countries the benefit of Chinese development in these sectors.

President Xi announced that China will invest in building capacity for 100,000 BRI members. These are just a few examples; We can find much more by analyzing BRI investment programs.

From the discussion, we can draw two conclusions. First, BRI is not just about trade, infrastructure or logistics. It also focuses on green goals. It seeks to promote resource efficiency, combat climate change, ensure healthy and productive ecosystems and promote environmental governance. To make the BRI a truly green program, it also encourages the use of technology, human and financial capacity building, and data collection and sharing. China is talking about Green Bri and taking practical steps to make it happen.

Second, President XI and the 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 that success will help the world have a model that can help it fight climate change and pursue the dream of development simultaneously.

Therefore, they deployed the right people to execute the plans, such as Brigc's Dynamic Leader, Dr. Zhang Jianyu and Coordinator Pang. So, the propaganda not called or self-estimated on an environmental basis against the BRI must stop here.