China can act as a model for developing countries and the wider world by investing in environmentally friendly growth and prioritizing the creation of cleaner energy, Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations said recently, urging the leaders of the planet’s most populous nation to “serve as the vanguard of tomorrow’s economy", according to a report on the UN News Centre website. Chinese government this year has launched in Beijing a new energy-saving initiative known as the “Green Lights Project”.

Mr. Ban said that China’s recent emergence as the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases meant it was vital for the international community that the country pursues sustainable environmental and economic policies.

“China has an opportunity to blaze a new trail for the world. It has the vision and leadership to create a new clean-energy path to prosperity,” he said, calling on the country to assume a global leadership role.

“By investing in green economy and green growth, your country has an opportunity to leapfrog over decades of traditional development based on high-polluting fuels. The key is prioritizing clean energy, which China has already begun to do, creating new jobs, spurring innovation, and ushering in a new era of global prosperity. In so doing, China can serve as the vanguard of tomorrow’s economy, today.”

The Green Lights Project, which has been jointly organized by the UN and the Chinese Government, is a $14 million programme aimed at promoting the use of energy-saving lamps and phasing out the sale and production of incandescent lamps. It could cut Chinese energy consumption by as much as 8 per cent.

Mr. Ban stressed that countries that take the lead on combating climate change “will reap rewards. They will be winners in the global marketplace. They will be winners at home as the whole of society benefits.”

He said China’s position as a global power meant it had additional responsibilities, particularly regarding the conference in December in Copenhagen, Denmark, convened to approve a global emissions pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose first commitment period ends in 2012.

Later Mr. Ban discussed Copenhagen with Chinese President Hu Jintao, while in talks with Prime Minister Wen Jiabao he discussed the climate change mitigation efforts that developing countries can undertake and the role that China can play in helping sub-Saharan African countries achieve the socio-economic targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

In addition, the Secretary-General addressed the alumni of the UN-China Advanced Leadership Programme, saying that China is making vital progress on the renewable energy front.

China’s renewable energy investments are now second only to that of Germany, Mr. Ban noted, adding that China is well placed to be a leader in what is shaping as one of the main global marketplaces of the future.