BEIJING, July 25 (UPI) -- China will be a role model for other nations if it invests in environmentally friendly growth, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday in Beijing.
"China has the size and power to blaze a new trail for the world. It has the vision to create a new clean-energy path to prosperity," Ban said at the opening of an energy-saving initiative call the Green Lights Projects.
If China prioritizes the creation of cleaner energy the country will "serve as the vanguard of tomorrow's economy," the United Nations said in a press release.
Ban said it is vital for the international community that China pursue sustainable environmental and economic policies. China is the world's leading emitter of greenhouse gases.
The Green Lights Project is a joint U.N. and Chinese government project intended to put $14 million toward promoting the use of energy-saving lamps and phasing out the sale and production of incandescent lamps. It is estimated it will cut Chinese energy consumption by as much as 8 per cent.
