Event
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China’s environmental challenges at home are daunting, exemplified by the dramatic images of air pollution “red alerts” in Beijing and other major cities. At the same time, the breakthrough between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping made possible the landmark Paris Accords on climate change.
What are China’s most serious and daunting environmental problems? Does public concern and discontent about pollution threaten political stability and Chinese Communist Party rule? What legal, policy, and bureaucratic measures is China using to address environmental issues? What are the international implications of China’s industrial policies that pursue leadership in green energy sectors, its official rhetoric that emphasizes ecological themes and commitments to addressing climate change, and its Belt and Road initiative that may portend significantly greater influence—and potentially environmental impact—abroad during an era of U.S. retrenchment from engagement on climate change and international engagement?
FPRI brings together a group of leading practitioners, policy experts, and scholars to address these issues. Panelists include:
Terry Cooke is a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Asia Program. He founded the China Partnership of Greater Philadelphia in 2011 as a 501c3 public-private platform to accelerate commercial and research collaboration between the Greater Philadelphia region and China in clean energy and energy-efficient buildings. In July 2014, the China Partnership of Greater Philadelphia’s work with Tianjin was one of six collaborations awarded U.S.-China EcoPartnership status by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and China’s State Councilor Jiechi Yang at the annual high-level U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue talks. He is also a Distinguished Resident Senior Scholar at the Fox Leadership Program of the University of Pennsylvania.
Scott Moore is a political scientist whose research focuses on environmental politics and policy reform in China, especially climate change, water resources, and ocean issues. Scott is currently a Young Professional with the World Bank Group’s Water Global Practice and Climate Change Cross-Cutting Solutions Area, where he serves as the headquarters-based lead for the Bank’s China Water Program. He co-authored a flagship World Bank report on water and climate change (High and Dry: Climate Change, Water, and the Economy), and is currently leading a high-level study on water governance reform requested by the Chinese government.
Denise van der Kamp is Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for the Study of Contemporary China. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on environmental politics, regulation, and market governance in China. Her book project Clean Air at What Cost? examines an emerging, ‘blunt force’ approach to environmental regulation in China. The book explains why the Chinese government has resorted to forcibly reducing industrial output and closing down entire industries to address pollution problems. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, among others. Prior to beginning her Ph.D. at Berkeley, Denise worked with the Aga Khan Foundation in Tajikistan from 2010-2011 and with environmental NGOs in Beijing from 2007-2009. Starting in August 2018, Denise will be an Assistant Professor at City University in Hong Kong.
Moderator: Jacques deLisle is Director of the Asia Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute as well as Stephen A. Cozen Professor of Law, Professor of Political Science, Director of the Center for East Asian Studies and Deputy Directory of the Center for the Study of Contemporary China at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in Chinese politics and legal reform, U.S-China relations, cross-strait relations, and China’s engagement with the international legal order. He is co-author of China’s Global Engagement Cooperation, Competition, and Influence in the 21st Century.
At FPRI (1528 Walnut St Suite 610) from 11:30 am to 12:45 pm
Free and open to the public--but reservations are required. Please register following this link.