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

· Watch 02:10
undefined

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.