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Victoria Bela

The world is entranced by electric vehicles (EVs), but people’s interest in the clean energy machines may have little to do with global warming, according to the latest Google Trends data.
And one environmental expert has put the shift down to the politicisation of climate change.
Google Trends data from August showed that online searches for the terms “electric vehicle” and “EV” had steadily increased over the past decade, with “China EV”, in particular, reaching a new peak this year.
It reflected the success of China’s EV sector, which also hit a new milestone this year with annual production volume surpassing 10 million units.
Google Trends provides a sample of actual search requests, and “a spike in a particular topic means that more users than usual are searching for it”, according to Google.
At the other end of the scale, though, searches for the term “global warming” hit their lowest number since records began in 2004 – only reached once before during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Paul Harris, chair professor of global and environmental studies at The Education University of Hong Kong, said there had been a worldwide shift away from using the term “global warming”.
For scientists, this is because warming – along with other impacts of increased greenhouse gas emissions – fall under the wider umbrella of climate change.
But the move towards using the term “climate change” had not occurred alongside widespread acceptance of the topic worldwide, Harris said, as it “gets enormous pushback still”.
“The idea of climate change is highly politicised and it’s caught up in domestic debates and geopolitical debates,” he said, noting that it also involved a lot of different vested interests.
“Those who want to take action on [climate change] are using other terminologies.”
He pointed to the recent elections in the United States – where president-elect Donald Trump has previously referred to climate change as a “hoax”.
During campaigning, “climate change” was only uttered three times by candidates during both presidential debates, all by Democratic Party candidates.
In fact, when asked directly about climate change at the September 10 debate, Vice-President Kamala Harris acknowledged the issue but then largely focused on the building of a clean energy economy and creating jobs.
The unprompted mention of global warming, climate change and the environment hit its peak during the 2000 US presidential elections, according to communications organisation Climate Power.
In the US, the recent focus has instead been on things such as investing in renewables to provide jobs, as that can be more “politically palatable” than investing for the sake of cleaning the air and saving lives, Harris said.


He said that Trump’s return to the White House and potential reversal of the Biden administration’s climate efforts could cause China to respond with “mediocre objectives of its own”.
China was a “clear leader” in solar and wind energy, but was also still approving coal-fired power plants and breaking records in coal production, Harris pointed out.
Beijing’s own focus on clean energy and EVs, he said, was an attempt to diversify its grid and create energy self-dependence.
But concerns about Chinese overcapacity have caused the European Union and US to impose tariffs on its EVs and renewable energy products, leading to rising trade tensions.
Harris believes that transitioning away from fossil fuels will happen eventually as there are benefits to doing so, “but the problem is that the steps that we are taking globally to address climate change are happening at a glacial pace”.
A hallmark of international climate policy has been to limit global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels. This is set to be the first full year where warming will be 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
But while staying below 2 degrees of warming could be practically possible, it may be “politically impossible” based on the current geopolitical climate, Harris said.


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Google interest in ‘China EV’ zooms ahead, leaving ‘global warming’ in its wake

The number of online searches for “China EV” and other electric vehicle-related terms have been soaring, while searches for “global warming” have hit a record low. Photo: Reuters

Transitioning away from fossil fuels will happen eventually but things “are happening at a glacial pace”. Photo: Reuters

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Leading battery scientist Ouyang Minggao says China’s battery industry could be worth 10 trillion yuan (US$138 billion) in the future. Photo: File

Chinese EV and battery manufacturers produce more than 60 per cent of the world’s EVs and 77 per cent of EV batteries. Photo: AFP

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China

Google Trends data shows the world is more excited by the latest clean energy vehicles than the noble principles behind them


Google Trends data shows the world is more excited by the latest clean energy vehicles than the noble principles behind them.
