Andrew Chang, the Chief Growth Officer (CGO) of New Energy Nexus, made a presentation at the “2025 Climate Tech Startup Summit” held in Jeju from the 4th to the 6th, discussing China’s strategy for green technology dominance. He described climate and AI as two interlocking gears, each advancing rapidly, now engaged to achieve the goals of carbon neutrality and AI competitiveness. New Energy Nexus is an international non-profit organization that supports clean energy entrepreneurs.
Recently, China has demonstrated significant growth in clean energy and AI fields through thorough top-down policies led by the state. Although it remains the world’s largest carbon emitter with over half its energy from coal, China has also become the largest investor in clean energy globally. China’s dominance in the renewable energy supply chain market has grown significantly. AI has also shocked the world with developments like “Deep Sike,” quickly catching up with the U.S.
At the intersection of these two fields is “energy efficiency.” Chang cited China’s “Eastern Data, Western Computing” strategy as an example. This policy aims to meet the high data demand in eastern China with abundant renewable energy from the west. The Chinese government has focused on deploying eco-friendly data centers in the west, improving efficiency through AI-based energy management systems. Chang predicts that over the next five years, “AI sovereignty” will emerge as a key keyword, increasingly linked with carbon neutrality goals.
AI is seen as a potential solution to the climate crisis because the international community is drifting further from achieving carbon neutrality. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the global temperature last year had risen by 1.55 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels, surpassing the 1.5-degree threshold set in the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat climate change.
The International Energy Agency predicts that AI can reduce annual CO2 emissions by 1.4 billion tons in the energy sector by 2035, more than twice the expected emissions from data centers. They see more potential in positioning AI as a solution rather than a villain in the climate battle.
To achieve this, the scientific journal Nature suggests five tasks, including expanding investments in AI for climate and creating large-scale accessible climate data. It emphasizes minimizing the resources AI uses, like electricity and water, and considering its environmental impacts in development and operation. Lastly, it calls for training professionals knowledgeable in AI and its applications in climate issues.
As Korea’s AI industry grows, there is also a call to nurture related climate tech. Suggestions include streamlining the patent registration process for AI sustainability or providing incentives to companies utilizing it.
Park Sung-hyun, CEO of AI semiconductor unicorn Rebellion, highlighted the immense energy use in creating and servicing AI, equating it to “hell” in terms of climate and electricity. He stressed that providing incentives to AI companies using climate tech would foster an ecosystem.