Here’s what East Asia can teach the world about the clean energy revolution

How do you think about the global shift towards clean energy? In many Western countries, argues Australian academic Elizabeth Thurbon, the energy transition is framed as a painful but necessary solution to climate change. It’s a challenge to be tackled - and there are significant costs involved. But what if there’s another way to think about it? In countries like #China and South Korea, Thurbon says, the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy is framed instead as a massive opportunity: one that can provide a huge boost to national, #energy and economic security - and whose benefits can be felt and shared by all. This is ‘developmental environmentalism’ - and it could be a much more effective way to build the social and political consensus needed to speed the global shift towards clean energy systems.