Green China: Chinese insights on environment and development
Book launch begins at 5.45pm for 6.00pm start, followed by drinks and canapés
Please RSVP to kate.wilson@iied.org
China’s economic transformation over three decades has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty. But impressive economic growth rates in the world’s largest country have come with heavy environmental costs. China urgently needs to shift to a more sustainable economic model. Our new title, ‘Green China: Chinese insights on environment and development’, outlines some possible solutions.
It brings together writings from China’s leading thinkers on sustainable development and reflects on the country’s experiences to date on, for example, China’s role in climate negotiations, and with experiments such as Green Gross Domestic Product accounting and the implementation of Green for Grain, the world’s biggest reforestation programme. This book provides clear ideas on what needs to change in China (and elsewhere), and on how to deliver economic development with better social and environmental outcomes.
IIED’s Director Camilla Toulmin will chair a discussion on environmental issues related to the publication with a panel of China experts. The panel includes:
Sam Geall, Deputy editor of chinadialogue
Sam is deputy editor at chinadialogue.net, a bilingual source of news, analysis and discussion on all environmental issues, with a special focus on China. His writing on Chinese affairs has appeared in international publications including Index on Censorship, Foreign Policy, New Internationalist, Far Eastern Economic Review, New Humanist, China Rights Forum, Green Futures and openDemocracy. He is author of Climate-Change Journalism in China: Opportunities for International Cooperation, published in 2011 by International Media Support and Caixin Media, and is editor of a forthcoming volume on grassroots environmental activism in China, published by Zed Books. Sam has a BA in Chinese from Leeds University and an MA in anthropological research from Manchester University, where he is also a PhD candidate in social anthropology. He has studied at Harvard University on a scholarship from the Kennedy Memorial Trust and has been a visiting researcher in the sociology department at Peking University. He is currently the recipient of a British Inter-university China Centre studentship.
Bernice Lee Research Director of Energy, Environment and Resource Governance at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, London
Bernice has a long track record as an expert and policy advisor on energy, environmental and sustainable development issues. She oversees the full energy programme at Chatham House, which she joined in 2007. Her areas of expertise are resource security, low carbon growth for emerging economies, trade and climate change, environmental governance, and China and climate security. Prior to joining Chatham House, she was Policy and Strategy Advisor at the International Centre for Trade & Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in Geneva from 2002 to 2006. From 2000 to 2002 she managed the Mining Minerals and Sustainable Development Project for IIED. From 1999 to 2000 she was an officer at the Strategic Planning Unit at the UN Secretary General’s Office in New York. Prior to that she was a Warren Weaver Fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation and a Research Associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
Leo Horn-Phathanothai Director for International Cooperation, World Resources Institute, Washington D.C.
Leo is an environment and development professional with a strong track record of advancing sustainable development within bilateral and multilateral development agencies. Prior to joining the WRI, Leo worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), where he served as Climate Change and Environment Adviser covering Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to joining the UNDP, Leo worked for six years in China, as an adviser to the British and Chinese governments and the World Bank, covering a range of technical and strategic issues linked to the environment-development nexus. From 2006-2009 he led a pioneering cross-governmental partnership between the UK and China on sustainable development, initiated by Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Wen Jiabao, and involving 17 government ministries/agencies. In parallel, he co-founded the China Carbon Forum and led it to become a thriving professional association serving as the key interface between the business community and senior Chinese government decision-makers on climate policy reform issues. Leo has also served as an Environmental Economic Advisor at the Department for International Development (2002-2006) and as an Environmental Economist with the World Bank (2007-2008).
Complimentary copies will be available to all guests. If you can’t attend but would like a free hardcopy, please contact newbooks@iied.org
The book is produced by IIED and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, with the support of the Ford Foundation.