'Destroying Africa's ecology?' — China's initiatives lead Africa's green development

Editor's note: China and Africa share a longstanding friendship, respecting, appreciating and supporting each other consistently during the past several decades. The results of their cooperation in infrastructure development, agriculture, healthcare and education have been undeniable. However, some Western media and politicians continue to accuse China of debt traps, neo-colonialism and more. CGTN's new series "China-Africa Cooperation: Debunking Western Myths" aims to put the record straight. This is the second episode in the series.

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As China and Africa have made significant strides and achieved great results on this path of green development and cooperation, some distracting voices from the Western media have emerged. But what's the reality?

The Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway has been operational for seven years now. Not only has it not disrupted animal migration, but elephants, giraffes, and buffaloes can be seen leisurely foraging beneath the railway bridges.

Where does the claim that only 2 percent of Chinese loans are allocated to renewable energy in Africa come from?

According to a foreign ministry spokesperson, China has implemented hundreds of projects on clean energy and green development in Africa. The installed capacity of photovoltaic power plants built by Chinese companies and Africa totaled over 1.5 gigawatts.

And are the people in coastal countries like Senegal and Kenya truly suffering from hunger due to the arrival of Chinese fishing vessels? In fact, the opposite is true: China's advanced fishing and freezing technologies have helped local fish reach international markets.

As for the Western countries making these unsubstantiated claims, what have they done to the African land and seas?

The extensive oil extraction by oil and gas giant Shell in Nigeria has led to numerous spills, severely polluting land and water sources.

U.S. oil company Chevron has dumped tons of hazardous oil waste directly into the ocean shallows near Angola's northern coastline, posing a major threat to marine life and ecosystems.

Kwesi Pratt, the founder of Pan Africa Television, said, "The West pretends to be giving us aid, but it's always conditioned on many things. In Ghana, you find that all the railway lines start from areas of concentration of wealth, where we have bauxite, where we have timber, where we have diamond, where we have gold and so on. They start from there and what do they end up? They end up in the ports. So, the whole development orientation is to take out wealth."

Patrick Verkooijen, the CEO of Global Center on Adaptation, pointed out, "In fact, nine out of the ten most vulnerable nations in the world to climate change are in Africa. And the irony is that Africa did not cause the climate crisis. In fact, less than 4 percent of global greenhouse emissions come from Africa."

As Chinese President Xi Jinping said, "China and Africa share a common future. We Chinese and Africans have forged profound friendship through our common historical experience and in our common struggles."

As early as 2000, the first ministerial conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) emphasized the importance of strengthening environmental cooperation between China and Africa. In recent years, rapid progress has been made in this field.

In 2015, as part of the "10 major China-Africa cooperation plans," China committed to helping Africa undertake 100 projects focused on clean energy, wildlife conservation, environmentally friendly agriculture, and smart city development.

In 2018, China would undertake 50 aid projects on green development and ecological and environmental protection in its "8 major initiatives with African countries."

And in 2021, as part of the "9 programs of Africa-China cooperation," China pledged to support 10 projects in Africa on green development, environmental protection, and climate action, contribute to the "Great Green Wall," and establish centers of excellence in Africa focused on low-carbon development and climate change adaptation.

In addition, all Chinese projects in Africa undergo Strategic Environmental and Social Assessments (SESA).

Chinese professionals also work closely with African environmental regulators to ensure infrastructure projects meet environmental protection standards.

A group of African experts recently traveled across mountains and seas to the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China. There, they exchanged experiences with their Chinese counterparts and explored effective methods for combating land degradation and desertification. This led to a significant "dialogue" between the world's largest desert, the Sahara, and China's largest desert, the Taklamakan.

The accusation that China is "destroying Africa's ecology" is utterly baseless. While certain Western countries are preoccupied with empty talk about Africa's future and continue to exploit its resources, China is steadfastly working alongside African countries to promote green development, enhance biodiversity protection, and balance environmental protection with economic growth, all in pursuit of a shared vision of peace and development.

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