Competition Or Cooperation: The Practices And Prospects For Green Finance Of China And The U.S.in Africa

Climate change is a common challenge for all mankind,and addressing the challenge of climate change is an important agenda for the world today.Developing countries,represented by Africa,are not the main source of global carbon emissions,but are the main victims of climate change.Climate change directly exacerbates the challenges of natural disasters,food security,resource tension and national conflicts in African countries.Moreover,participating in the global climate change agenda,fulfilling gas change commitments and achieving development transformation are also daunting development challenges for African countries that are underdeveloped or even underdeveloped.It is an important responsibility and mission of the international community to construct a common but differentiated global climate change agenda and to support African countries with weaker development capacity to achieve development transformation.One of the core demands is financing support,such as financing through multiple channels and approaches,government and market,traditional and innovative,to support Africa and other developing countries to implement climate change commitments and achieve national development transformation.In this context,various financing initiatives and mechanisms such as climate finance,green finance,environmental finance,debt-to-nature swap and debt-to-climate swap have emerged.The development and innovation of international financing represented by green finance is not only a product of international development cooperation,but is becoming an important determinant that influences and promotes the transformation and reshaping of the global development landscape.In short,whoever masters the global supply,rule-making and practical application of green finance will have a greater voice and influence on the global climate change agenda and international development transformation.From the perspective of international politics,green financing can be understood as a new power construct in the new international development discourse.Green finance is an important manifestation of a country’s power and international influence,and can enhance a country’s ability to shape and speak out on the development agenda or development model in the developing world.For this reason,green finance is not only an international responsibility arising from development needs,but implies a strategic competitive awareness and vision of global powers “competing for the future”.Therefore,using green finance as a perspective to understand the strategic philosophy,strategic planning and strategic direction of two major countries,it is highly representative for judging the differences in models,development effects and the competition between China and the U.S.on the global development agenda.On the one hand,as the world’s top two economies,China and the U.S.play a pivotal role in global green finance supply,and the competition and cooperation between them directly affect the development of global green finance.On the other hand,the U.S.is the largest traditional financing provider,while China is an important emerging force,and there is a great difference between the two international financing models.This model difference is a manifestation of the institutional differences between the two countries in international financing practices,while the differences in financing models and practices in turn raise the institutional competition between the two countries further.The direct manifestation of this is that green financing should be an important issue in promoting international development cooperation,but in reality,green finance is becoming an important tool in the geopolitical competition between major powers,and thus is having serious implications for international development cooperation.The green finance models and practices of China and the U.S.represent the two main forms of current and future international development finance.Understanding the differences in the models and the interaction between them is important for understanding the transformative development of international development finance.As it stands,the relationship between China and the U.S.on green finance in Africa is characterized by two phenomena: First,green finance to Africa is grossly inadequate.Compared to the huge financing needs of African countries,the external supply is severely inadequate.This in fact constitutes an important basis on which great powers can cooperate;second,the intensification and broadening of great power competition is leading to the politicization of development issues such as green financing.The United States is intensifying its competition with China in Africa,where financing support is seen as an important source of Chinese influence in Africa and green finance is seen as an important means of achieving national strategic goals,seeking resources and exporting influence.This ideology-and values-based thinking is profoundly affecting Sino-American cooperation in Africa and on international development issues,or rather,it is an important reason for Sino-American non-cooperation in Africa.In response to these two phenomena,the study analyzes and compares the development financing models of China and the U.S.by sorting out the specific practices of green finance between China and the U.S.in Africa,tries to clarify and define the competitive and cooperative relationship between the two countries on green finance in Africa,and accordingly puts forward the prospect of the relationship between China and the U.S.on green finance in Africa.The basic conclusion of the study is that green finance is an important tool for the global climate change agenda and the development transformation of African countries,which not only requires major countries such as China and the U.S.to assume international responsibility,but also can play a positive role in promoting the improvement of the relationship between China and the U.S.and other major countries.China and the U.S.should use green finance as an opportunity and a grip to actively engage in sincere dialogue and pragmatic cooperation,and play a greater role in promoting international development and global governance.