Xi Jinping: Official website of Ali Khamenei, Supreme leader of Iran, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Globe from NASA (Public Domain). Match: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons / “Streichholz -- 2021 -- 6120” / CC BY-SA 4.0. Image modified.

Chinese Media: AI Investment Should be Diverted to Climate Action

Essay by Eric Worrall

“… Trillions of dollars of bubble-inflating equity investment continue to pour into tech stocks while critical areas … such as climate change alleviation continue to go underfunded. …”

Macroscope | Why force of law is world’s best hope for beating climate change

We need radical solutions reinforced by legal statutes to bolster the fight against climate change and make polluters pay

Anthony Rowley
Published: 4:30pm, 2 Aug 2025

The law has emerged as a powerful weapon in the war on global warming, with a series of landmark judgments seeking to make governments legally responsible for limiting greenhouse gas emissions arising from the use of fossil fuels. This move is one of the strongest yet in the fight against the existential threat of climate change, but it raises the question of who will pay for necessary remedial actions.

There is at least one obvious remedy to this dilemma which apparently few people – least of all stock investors – are willing to acknowledge: regulating the flows of market investment. Trillions of dollars of bubble-inflating equity investment continue to pour into tech stocks while critical areas of socioeconomic investment such as climate change alleviation continue to go underfunded. This has to change if we and the planet are to survive.

The world does not lack the savings needed to finance its own sustainability or even survival. However, what it does lack is adequate and intelligent channelling of those savings into long-term investment instead of short-term stock speculation. Banking systems are highly regulated in many jurisdictions nowadays to prevent the recurrence of past excesses and crises, but not so with stock market investment, where the dangerous cult of equity remains intact and largely ungoverned.

Growing nationalism among many advanced and some developing countries could stand in the way of the adoption of global regulations, including those relating to climate change, but global warming knows no borders. It is a common enemy that needs to be fought by common action. The world is likely to learn a hard lesson from this era of tariffs and trade fragmentation, courtesy of Trump’s many ill-considered and dictatorial actions.

Read more: https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3320298/why-force-law-worlds-best-hope-beating-climate-change

Hamstringing Western stock markets with regulations and diverting resources away from strategic priorities like AI research. I wonder who stands to gain from that?

Journalist Anthony Rowley got one thing right. Nations and regions which prioritise climate action have no chance of winning the AI race. Just look at Europe, Canada and Australia’s lack of progress.

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August 3, 2025 10:13 am

The world is likely to learn a hard lesson from this era of tariffs and trade fragmentation, courtesy of Trump’s many ill-considered and dictatorial actions.

Yeah. The lesson they will learn in 2028 is that the voters will embrace those same policies in a different candidate, then and only then will this dictator narrative die. The other lesson they will learn is that there’s STILL no climate carnage, the US economy is racing ahead, and anyone who wants to compete will have to adopt sane energy policies.

Reply to  davidmhoffer
August 3, 2025 10:20 am

I hope Mad Man Mamdami wins the New York election. It will take an epic failure of socialism right within America itself to put the socialist genie back in the box. Every few generations lack of history education produces a generation convinced that socialism will work “this time” and it takes first hand horrors to reintroduce that education.

When a new problem emerges in a socialist regime, a handful of people, wildly wealthy due to their position in the socialist regime, start to think about the problem and come up with a solution that they then cram down the throats of the population. In a capitalist society, millions of minds go to work on the problem, thousands of solutions are experimented with, dozens of idea that work emerge in the market and the people choose the ones they like best.

Socialism cannot function without totalitarianism, and is incapable of bringing the brain trust of its entire population to bear on any given problem.

cgh
Reply to  davidmhoffer
August 3, 2025 12:16 pm

There is another possibility. Mamdani could do for New York what four decades of Democrat rule have done for Detroit. Compared to what it was in 1950, Detroit is little better than a burned out ruin. If the Wall Street stock exchange leaves New York, the city may well start imploding right there and then.

It should be noted that the Democrats have ruined every major city that they’ve run for the past half-century.

Reply to  cgh
August 3, 2025 12:33 pm

Uhm… that was my point. Detroit level failure on steroids. Four decades of decline compressed into four years.

John Hultquist
Reply to  cgh
August 3, 2025 1:36 pm

Detroit seems to have stabilized somewhat from 10 years ago when it didn’t have money to turn on street lights and other such. There were many stories about its problems. Fewer since.
Population is no longer dropping (last year’s news). I’m about 2,000 miles away literally and more figuratively, so never pay much interest in the place.

Reply to  davidmhoffer
August 3, 2025 2:54 pm

If only the rest of us can sever all ties with NYC, sure. Otherwise, taxpayers will be paying through the nose to fix the messes NYC voted for.

Reply to  More Soylent Green!
August 4, 2025 3:43 am

I love the museums in NYC and Central Park is pretty neat.

Giving_Cat
Reply to  More Soylent Green!
August 4, 2025 12:29 pm

President Gerald Ford has entered the conversation.

JTraynor
Reply to  davidmhoffer
August 3, 2025 2:52 pm

Let’s keep an eye on the economy over the next 6 months or so before we jump to conclusions about 2028. We need to get through 2026 first.

We are seeing a slowdown in our business as those that invest in new capital projects are sitting on that capital with a “wait and see” attitude. It’s not the tariffs themselves that are driving this but the way they are being rolled out.

The tariffs are going to negligibly impact the economy. It’s likely a 1% price increase in year one only. However, the flamboyant way Trump is using tariffs to push other nations to the negotiating table is leading many to just sit on capital projects. No one knows what he is going to do next, which concerns many with capital to spend.

This will cause many to pull back on hiring. A slowdown going into the midterms will not bode well for Republicans. The Democrats, as silly as they are right now, have a 46-42 lead in the midterms in credible polls. It’s the middle that decides elections and if they are struggling because of a slow down in hiring, and wage compression that always accompanies this, they will put the Dems over the top then everything Trump is trying to accomplish stops.

Reply to  davidmhoffer
August 4, 2025 3:40 am

If Trump was a dictator, all calling him that would probably mysteriously disappear or fall out of a window.

Bruce Cobb
August 3, 2025 10:17 am

What drivel. I bet he got high Marx in school.

JD Lunkerman
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
August 3, 2025 10:20 am

Plus he got a WNBA in economics.

Scissor
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
August 3, 2025 11:28 am

Maovelous, simply maovelous.

Bryan A
Reply to  Scissor
August 3, 2025 3:19 pm

The Commune-isms are running Hot and Cold in this thread

John the Econ
August 3, 2025 10:20 am

“We need radical solutions reinforced by legal statute…”

And here I’ve been told that fascism is bad.

Bryan A
Reply to  John the Econ
August 4, 2025 8:43 am

Personally I’d like to see China follow their own edict and put ALL their AI development ¥ into climate mitigation around the globe.

Tom Halla
August 3, 2025 10:25 am

Rowley points out what should not be done. Renewables are a dead end, and require socialist interventions to be put in place.

cotpacker
August 3, 2025 10:48 am

It is interesting that Rowley favors government mandating investment policy and economic activity, but he considers Trump a fascist. He obviously does not understand what fascism actually is. Markets are imperfect, but they have self-correcting mechanisms. Government control is far worse, and it does not respond to misallocation of resources.

Trump is off base on tariffs, including proposing government control over foreign investments; but he has pushed deregulation and a mainly market-controlled economy. That is far from perfect but way better than central planning.

Mr.
Reply to  cotpacker
August 3, 2025 1:08 pm

What’s the difference between “crony capitalism” and “fascism”?

IAMPCBOB
Reply to  Mr.
August 3, 2025 1:30 pm

According top my ‘expert’ in AI: “ crony capitalism involves mutual benefit between political and economic elites, whereas fascism entails the political elite fully controlling and directing economic actors for state purposes. Some sources argue that crony capitalism can evolve into fascism when state control intensifies and economic interests become entirely subservient to political goals. Others equate the two, asserting that crony capitalism is essentially fascism in practice, particularly when state and corporate power are deeply intertwined.”

I don’t put a lot of faith in ANY ai system, but it says that, essentially, they are almost identical..

Reply to  IAMPCBOB
August 3, 2025 2:59 pm

Which AI? Ask the same question of other chatbots, then compare and contrast.

Bryan A
Reply to  More Soylent Green!
August 3, 2025 3:22 pm

A.I.Gore

Mr.
Reply to  IAMPCBOB
August 3, 2025 3:28 pm

Thanks.
That was my point.

2hotel9
Reply to  IAMPCBOB
August 3, 2025 4:28 pm

You have convinced me to at least look into AI searching. They are the obverse of the same coin, always have been.

Bryan A
Reply to  IAMPCBOB
August 4, 2025 8:47 am

state control intensifies and economic interests become entirely subservient to political goals

Kinda like the Democrats offering Student Loan Debt Forgiveness for Votes in 2022 or Kamala campaigning with Vote for me and I’ll “FIX” the government problems. (She created those damn problems in the first place!!!)

Reply to  Mr.
August 3, 2025 2:57 pm

Since nobody can agree on the meaning of ‘Fascism,’ other than it’s bad, I can’t answer that. Leftists incorrectly believe Fascism is strictly right wing.

Reply to  cotpacker
August 4, 2025 7:18 am

Although the tariff issue is still playing out, the results appear to be on base so far. Don’t forget, the U.S.A. federal government collected tariffs for revenue rather than income taxes up until the beginning of the 1900s.
Other countries have played the U.S.A. for chumps with their tariffs on our exports which we agreed to so that they could recover from WW2. The reason to accept the imbalance on trade is long expired.
Canada had (has?) tariffs of 400% and quotas on some of our products. That is just one example of unfair trade practices that countries all over the world have gotten away with for generations.

Trump is rectifying the imbalances. In my book, that is not only on base but, a home run.

Bruce Cobb
August 3, 2025 10:57 am

Climate Fascism: Because in the end “Saving the Planet” is more important than anything else, and the ends justify the means.

David A
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
August 3, 2025 8:41 pm

…about the most dangerous thing for humans that you could ever program into an AI.

August 3, 2025 11:35 am

Climate alarmists are completely unrestrained by data or history or economics… hard to have a logical conversation when that is your starting point… even harder to convince someone that any sane argument needs to start with those principles. Not sure what else there is to say about Rowleys positions

Reply to  Jeff L
August 3, 2025 3:13 pm

Climate alarmist don’t understand basic math. How many wind turbines are needed to replace fossil fuels? How much land? How much wiring? How many utility poles? How many batteries?

David A
Reply to  Jeff L
August 3, 2025 8:43 pm

Perhaps his position is on his knees to China.

August 3, 2025 11:45 am

but it raises the question of who will pay for necessary remedial actions.

I’d like to solve the puzzle, Pat.

Pravda Pundit
August 3, 2025 11:53 am

Funny. The Chinese wants the West to waste money on climate so they can dominate other fields of business and industry.

Gregory Woods
Reply to  Pravda Pundit
August 3, 2025 1:28 pm

and it is funny that you should mention that, as that was what Reagan (I believe) tried to do to bankrupt the old Soviet Union.

MarkW
Reply to  Gregory Woods
August 3, 2025 2:43 pm

Too bad history bears no relationship to what you wish to believe.

Reply to  Gregory Woods
August 3, 2025 3:15 pm

Huh? I don’t recall Reagan trying to sell climate alarmism to Gorbachev.

IAMPCBOB
Reply to  Pravda Pundit
August 3, 2025 1:33 pm

While THEY simply ignore the whole question about climate change. You don’t see THEM closing down coal power generation systems, do you?

Bryan A
Reply to  IAMPCBOB
August 4, 2025 8:50 am

Nor do you see “Them” shifting their AI investments into Climate Mitigation either.

Edward Katz
August 3, 2025 2:29 pm

If China’s carbon emissions have increased by 70% during the past two decades, and its coal consumption is higher than the rest of the world combined, and it’s building new coal plants faster than any other country, does anyone believe it will reduce these actions to fight climate change? The whole proposal has all the earmarks of wishful thinking on the part of climate activists who are becoming more desperate as they see the majority of nations ignoring their alarmism.

Reply to  Edward Katz
August 3, 2025 3:16 pm

Yes, people believe that.

August 3, 2025 2:51 pm

The people who make rope encourage us to hang ourselves. Nothing self-serving about that.

Bryan A
August 3, 2025 3:16 pm

China…shaming other countries for NOT squandering their money on Climate related spending while THEY do nothing but increase their emissions and shame other countries? Hey China, STFU and tend to your own house.

Bob
August 3, 2025 3:59 pm

How many trillions of dollars have been pissed away on CAGW and what do we have to show for it? CO2 rising as usual, average global temperatures rising as usual, price of electricity rising at an alarming rate, grid dependability uncertain, a deficit of dependable, dispatchable power generators, wildlife slaughtered by undependable, expensive and ugly wind and solar, solar and wind waste mounting up daily and on and on. Net zero and renewables are the worst of all investments, open your eyes stop wasting our time, money and resources.

Fire up all fossil fuel and nuclear generators. Build new fossil fuel and nuclear generators. Remove all wind and solar from the grid.

tjwaeghe
August 3, 2025 4:20 pm

This reads exactly like the Chinese blathering on about how important it is to fight climate change, and encouraging the western nations to do all they can to fight it. Meanwhile, they continue to mine and use coal like there is no tomorrow. It sounds like they’re encouraging western countries to do as they say and not as they’ve been doing. It’s absurd.

2hotel9
August 3, 2025 4:20 pm

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quilter52
August 3, 2025 6:57 pm

How about we just follow what China does here as opposed to what it says. China is no different to the Climate billionaires flying around in their private jets (di Caprio, Gore, Gates, etc) telling the peasants what to do while the lives of the billionaires remain undisturbed. Frankly, I think we need a few tumbrils or tar and feathering.

observa
August 3, 2025 11:02 pm

The world does not lack the savings needed to finance its own sustainability 

Nah plenty more where that comes from for the lefty lawyers and their equally kind hearted donors stumping up the grubstake-
Law firms and investors making millions from class actions while victims get just thousands
Plenty to spread around the McDonalds there Minnie and without all that conspicuous empathy where would you all be?

Ed Zuiderwijk
August 4, 2025 12:18 am

Worrying about how other people spend their money. The essence of socialism.