One of the most common objections I hear to climate action is: “But what about China?”
The person making this argument usually goes on to claim that China is doing nothing, while everyone else is making sacrifices. But that’s not what the data show.
Here’s the reality:
* As the U.S. doubles down on fossil fuels and blocks new wind and solar projects, its emissions are ticking up.
* In contrast, China’s emissions appear to have peaked — and may now be starting to decline.
* Last year, China installed a full half of all the world's new wind and solar energy.
* Over the past two years, China installed more new solar power each year than the U.S. has installed in total across its entire history.
* China's clean exports alone are cutting CO2 outside its borders by 1% year on year.
Of course no country can fix climate change on its own. But just as it's a global problem, progress in one place helps everyone.
Good News: What if wildlife isn’t just impacted by climate change, but part of the solution? From forest elephants and sea otters to whales, penguins, and beavers, animals help store carbon, cool the planet, and keep ecosystems functioning. Protecting biodiversity isn’t separate from climate action: it’s central to it.
Not-So-Good News: Climate change is exacerbating the biodiversity crisis: skewing sex ratios in reptiles, shifting breeding seasons for penguins, and unraveling food webs species have relied on for millennia. These aren’t distant risks; they’re happening now.
What We Can Do: Personal choices matter—not because they “fix” climate change on their own, but because they shift norms, start conversations, and inspire collective action. This January, choose sustainable habits that fit your life, share why they matter, and help catalyze systemic change.