China has been trumpeting its commitment to building a green Belt and Road, a theme emphasized at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing recently. And the central government has issued a number of implementation policies, including the "Guiding Opinions on Promoting a Green Belt and Road Initiative" and the "Belt and Road Initiative Ecological Environmental Protection Cooperation Plan" aimed at ensuring the initiative is clean and green.

The challenge is a familiar one - how to balance development and environmental protection. Much like in China 20 years ago, for many countries along the Belt and Road routes improving access to electricity, a critical precondition for employment, poverty alleviation, and public health, is the top policy priority. This development need can overwhelm efforts to mitigate long-term climate change risks.

We have seen some efforts by China to promote clean energy in the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has participated in several clean energy projects, including Egypt's Benban Solar Park, one of the world's largest projects of this kind. While in Argentina, the China Development Bank and China Export-Import Bank have provided 85 percent of the financing for the Cauchari solar power plant, the largest in Latin America.

However, the set of policies to regulate the environmental impact of China's development finance is large, complex and less stringent than domestic policies. As a World Bank report states: "China has a growing collection of guidelines but they still lack essential details concerning implementation, monitoring, and enforcement."

But China's policies are only half of the equation. The environment, energy and climate policies in partner Belt and Road countries are equally important, if not decisive, in determining the environmental impact of the projects that China invests in.

One recommendation from the World Resources Institute is that Chinese investment should be linked to the National Determined Contribution of the Belt and Road partner under the Paris Agreement. This, however, is only a partial solution. In Indonesia, for example, the NDC goal accommodates an energy development plan that allows the proportion of coalfired power grow around five times its current size by 2050. In the end, it is the laws and regulations in partner countries - what kinds of appliances can be used, what kinds of cars can be driven, what kinds of buildings can be built, what kind of energy can be used - that will affect local energy consumption and emissions patterns.

So what can China do to help? Setting stringent environmental guidelines for its overseas investments - a "hard power" approach - is important. But it is even more important that China provide financial and technical support to its Belt and Road partners by sharing its experiences and the lessons it has learned in implementing clean energy, environment and climate policies. We can think of this as China's green soft power.

Although China itself is still trying to win its war on pollution, in the past few decades it has established a comprehensive system of laws, regulations and strategic plans for environmental protection and clean energy, some of which are considered world-class. For example, China has established stricter power plant pollution emissions requirements than the United States and the European Union. And China's Stage 6 light duty vehicle standard is one of the most stringent emission standards in the world, according to International Center of Clean Transportation.

Developing countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative can draw on China's experiences, since China's environmental protection and carbon mitigation practices as a developing economy may be more relevant to them than those of the developed economies. To take one example, China's issue of overcapacity in coal fired power plants might also soon appear in other Central Asian Belt and Road countries. China can share the lessons it has learned in this area with its Belt and Road partners.

Policymakers should map out the gap in policies between China and other Belt and Road countries, sector by sector, and identify the ones with the largest greenhouse gases mitigation or environmental impact potential. Policy dialogues should be centered on the most effective policies. Ecological protection standards related to mining, minimum efficiency levels for energy intensive industrial products, and green standards related to infrastructure development can all be adapted to Belt and Road countries.

China is good at using strategic communications in support of its comprehensive plans for clean energy, energy conservation and emission reductions. The majority of Chinese Belt and Road-related investment in Jordan, one of the top three investment destinations in recent years, is flowing into shale oil development projects that meet local requirements for energy supply diversification. However, Jordan also has abundant solar and wind energy resources, and cheap desert land. According to a Greenpeace report, it's technically feasible for these resources to supply six times the current total electricity demand by 2050. With the right support for long-term planning and strategic communications, Jordan could make bolder moves toward renewable power generation.

To accomplish all this, joint policy research and technical cooperation should lead the way. The strategic framework for much of this is already in place. Now is the time for concrete action. "Environmental Policy and Standard Coordination and Convergence" is one of the 25 key projects in China's Belt and Road Initiative Ecological and Environmental Cooperation Plan. On April 25, at the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing, the National Development and Reform Commission, Energy Foundation China, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and Industrial Development Organization jointly launched a Belt and Road Initiative Green Cooling Initiative. One of the actions it calls for is to promote collaboration and dialogue on environmental standards. This is a step in the right direction.

Hu Min is a senior adviser and Diego Montero is a strategy adviser at the Green Development Program, a nongovernmental Chinese think tank that focuses on green and low-carbon development.

The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.

All rights reserved. Copying or sharing of any content for other than personal use is prohibited without prior written permission.