Building trust in renewable energy: Lessons from China's approach

China has emerged as a global leader in renewable energy deployment.

In 2023, China's new renewable energy capacity reached 297.6 gigawatts, accounting for 63% of global expansion, with projections indicating a 60% contribution to global capacity additions by 2030. As of 2023, China's renewable energy industry has generated 7.4 million jobs, representing 45.5% of global employment in the sector.

As renewable energy projects expand, coordinating stakeholder interests becomes increasingly complex. Traditional linear decision-making models are no longer sufficient to address the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration in large-scale projects.

These challenges highlight the importance of a multistakeholder-driven approach. Organizations must innovate their management strategies and foster inclusive, transparent collaboration with stakeholders to ensure successful project implementation and promote responsible growth.

Building trust in renewable energy requires a multistakeholder-driven approach, bringing together governments, businesses, communities and international organizations. By fostering collaboration and balancing diverse interests, stakeholders can create long-term shared value and ensure the successful implementation of renewable energy projects.

Stable and continuous policy support remains essential for renewable energy development.

To ensure sustainable growth, governments must enhance multi-stakeholder collaboration and establish robust environmental and social impact assessments.

In China, the government has long been a driving force behind renewable energy growth. Key policy initiatives include the Renewable Energy Law (2006) and Feed-in Tariffs (FIT), laying the foundation for the industry.

However, recent years have seen a significant shift toward market-oriented reforms, aimed at fostering a more competitive and efficient renewable energy sector.

China is transitioning its renewable energy sector with key initiatives such as Green Electricity Certificates and the Renewable Energy Trading Market. These reforms enable producers to sell electricity directly to consumers or through trading platforms.

Additionally, renewable energy Power Purchase Agreements have been implemented in some demonstration projects, allowing businesses to secure long-term contracts for renewable energy. By June 2025, China will replace its feed-in tariff system with a fully market-driven renewable energy pricing model.

Businesses must innovate development models to gain stakeholder trust. By restructuring value chains, companies can implement the “Renewable Energy Plus" concept, driving industrial upgrading and creating shared value. For example, the “Wind Power + Tourism” model has been successfully implemented in various regions, combining clean energy production with tourism revenue and job creation.

Transparency is critical. Companies should adopt internationally recognized sustainability disclosure frameworks and participate in global assessments.

Community engagement is the foundation of long-term trust. Involving local residents in project planning and implementation reduces risks and improves efficiency. Companies can share benefits through community development funds, skills training and job creation.

In China, this kind of work is underway.

For example, Pingquan county, Hebei Province, has long been famous for its edible fungus cultivation industry. Pingquan combines photovoltaic power generation facilities with agricultural production and improves the efficiency of land resources by constructing edible fungus cultivation facilities beneath the solar panels. As a result, this model built a 30 MW facility agricultural photovoltaic power generation project, provided stable income opportunities for 70 impoverished households and created employment opportunities for over 200 people.

Elsewhere, Chinese solar firm LONGi has been constructing the Serendah Module Plant in Malaysia since 2022. To address the potential negative impacts that project construction may have on local communities, LONGi established a comprehensive community impact management plan. The plan focuses on stringent control of the movements of construction vehicles, protection of the pavements and ensuring community health and environmental protections. LONGi has generated roughly 900 local employment opportunities, and that number is expected to climb to 2000 in the coming years.

The lesson from both of these case studies is that enhanced community involvement is essential for project success and local benefit sharing.

International organizations play a key role in building global trust systems. Establishing unified technical, product and certification standards is critical for the high-quality development of the renewable energy industry. For example, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) has provided unified standards for corporate sustainability disclosure, enhancing global investor trust.

China has issued the Basic Guidelines for Corporate Sustainability Disclosure, incorporating topics like rural revitalization and innovation-driven development. These guidelines serve as a bridge for stakeholder communication.

Adopting and strengthening global standards and cooperation will drive sustainable growth.

As the global energy transition accelerates, the renewable energy sector is entering a new phase. The transition to renewable energy is not just a technological shift but a comprehensive transformation requiring collaboration among all stakeholders. China's leadership in deployment speed and scale positions it as a key player in this transformation. By strengthening multistakeholder-driven approaches and fostering closer partnerships among governments, businesses and communities, China can enhance project efficiency and lay the foundation for a sustainable and equitable future for all.

To this end, the World Economic Forum's Centre for Energy and Materials has launched the Responsible Renewable Energy Infrastructure Coalition, developed the Principles of Responsible Deployment and established a Taskforce with Chinese stakeholders to address China's renewable energy development. The Taskforce proposes three priorities for responsible renewable energy development: "Net Zero, Trusted and Circular," and aims to help build out China’s renewable energy development and derive lessons from it for the wider industry.