Last October, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a serious warning to the world: The catastrophic effects of climate change have already begun. Unless drastic actions to cut emissions are taken immediately, the world will soon face devastating consequences.

However, as the United States is set to leave the Paris Agreement on Nov 4, 2020, the world needs fresh momentum to drive global emissions reductions.

China's economic transformation may provide that momentum.

China's economy has grown on average by more than 9 percent a year for the past four decades and its development has lifted 740 million people out of poverty. But its unparalleled growth comes with a costly environmental price tag.

Pollution and emissions increased as China's economy expanded. As investment concentrated in heavy industry, excess capacity also became a real problem, undermining the overall health and competitiveness of the Chinese economy.

But China is seeking to transform its economy from one that relies heavily on coal burning and heavy industries to one that is focused on services, innovation and sustainable development.

Around 2013, China issued three important action plans to facilitate this transformation: the National Climate Change Plan, the Energy Development Strategic Action Plan, and the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Plan. These policy documents set specific goals for emission reductions, energy intensity reduction, the use of renewable energies and the decline of coal consumption.

Within a few years, China has become the largest user and producer of renewable energy. In 2018 alone, it was responsible for 32 percent of all global renewable energy investment. Today it has the largest installed capacity of hydropower, solar power and wind power.

One in three wind turbines in the world is located in China. It is the largest market for electric vehicles, and home to close to half of the world's electric cars, half of all charging infrastructure and 99 percent of the world's electric buses. It is estimated that by next year, China's solar capacity will be five times that of the US.

In 2015, China proposed in its National Determined Contribution as part of its Paris Agreement pledge, that it will reduce its carbon intensity by 60 to 65 percent from 2005 levels by 2030, increase non-fossil-fuel energy to 20 percent of its energy mix, and expand its forest reserves. Today, China is well on track to meeting these goals.

According to official statistics, by the end of 2017, China's carbon intensity had declined by 45 percent compared to 2005. Its nonfossil-fuel portfolio had reached 13.7 percent in its energy mix, and it had increased its forest land by 2,000 square kilometers by 2017. In the same year, China set up a national emissions trading market, the largest in the world.

Some studies, such as one published recently in Nature Sustainability, even suggest that China's emissions could peak nine years before 2030, much faster than previously expected.

China's leadership in green technologies is also driving another major change. In the past decade, China's investment in renewable technology has driven down the cost of solar and wind energy by 70 percent. Within five years, it has driven down the unit price of electric car batteries by two-thirds.

The decline in price has made clean technologies much more competitive in the global market compared to technologies relying on fossil fuels. If this trajectory continues, clean energies could one day be as cheap as, if not cheaper than, fossil fuels even without government subsidies. And this will be the game changer that could fundamentally transform the global emissions outlook.

On Sept 23, UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres will convene a Climate Action Summit in New York, where world leaders will gather for a one-day event at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. The event is aimed at motivating countries to raise their climate pledges under the Paris Climate Agreement and encouraging further actions to combat this growing crisis.

At the moment, even if all the national commitments under the Paris Agreement are fulfilled, they only get us about one-third of the way toward the emissions reduction needed by 2030 to limit the rise in global temperatures to below 2 C.

As China moves toward a high-tech and service economy, it could also serve as a model for how major developing countries can find the pathway to a low-carbon economy and sustainable development, further driving down global emissions.

William Wilberforce, the famous 19th century British anti-slavery activist once said: "You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know."

China is a good example of a country that knows the realities of climate change and environmental degradation and chooses to act fast, instead of looking away. This is very important, because, as another famous quote goes: "We may be the first generation to feel the real impact of climate change, but the last one to be able to do anything about it."

The author is an assistant professor at Hunan University's School of Public Management and a visiting researcher at Tsinghua University's Belt and Road Research Institute.

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

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