Desert regions are transforming into clean energy hubs that also halt desertification and create habitat for plants and wildlife
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenVictoria BelaPublished: 12:00pm, 6 Aug 2026Updated: 12:11pm, 6 Aug 2026Following in the footprints of its ambitious Great Green Wall, China is leaning into a solar-powered pivot as part of its decades-long effort to tackle desertification in the arid north.The expanding Great Solar Wall initiative, centred in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, could help to power China’s economic hubs as the country accelerates its transition away from fossil fuels.Transforming the desert into solar power hubs could generate clean energy while at the same time halting desertification and creating habitats that will allow plants and wildlife to thrive.
09:35How is China building a great green wall to protect itself from desertificationThis would be equivalent to the capacity of around 20 of China’s Three Gorges – the largest hydroelectric facility in the world – and more than seven times the planned Yarlung Tsangpo mega-dam project.
