China's digital edge hailed in climate efforts

US can gain from cooperation with pacesetter on data use, scientist says

China is a leader in finding digital technology solutions to accelerate progress on climate goals, and the US can learn from its efforts, a US environmental scientist said.

There is huge potential for digital technologies in the climate change and environmental sustainability space, which opens up "a world of opportunities" for both countries to engage each other in this "underexplored" area, said Angel Hsu, an assistant professor of public policy and the environment at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, at a recent webinar on climate change.

China has a "distinct competitive advantage" in digitally enabled solutions on data, machine learning and artificial intelligence, which the US also can use to achieve its climate goals, she said.