Seminar: What can China learn from the UK about approaches to low carbon transformation and vice versa?
Published: 20 September 2023
Dr Neil Munro will provide an overview of how China and the UK approach low carbon transformation, emphasising the questions of the strength of legal commitments, who are the winners and losers, the extent to which transformation can rely on voluntary measures or must be imposed, and who is included in decision-making.
Dr Neil Munro (U. Glasgow), Mr Yu Wei (China Jiliang University), Dr Ria Dunkley (U. Glasgow), and Dr Nai Rui Chng (U. Glasgow)
Wednesday 20 September 2023 at 12–1.30pm
Location: in person, Main Building 219 (Robing Room) and online with registration at https://uofglasgow.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtdumvqjwiHtM4RsOuHWLsAPwjXlqkAxIT
Abstract
China has set itself the goal of peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2060. The UK has set itself the target of reducing carbon emissions by 68% compared to 1990 levels by 2030 and to net zero emissions by 2050. Both countries have made some progress using an ecological modernisation approach involving comprehensive climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. But what, if anything, can the two countries learn from one another? In this research seminar, four speakers will discuss this question from different disciplinary perspectives using examples from either or both countries.
Dr Neil Munro will provide an overview of how China and the UK approach low carbon transformation, emphasising the questions of the strength of legal commitments, who are the winners and losers, the extent to which transformation can rely on voluntary measures or must be imposed, and who is included in decision-making. Mr Yu Wei will introduce China’s “carbon inclusion” (碳普惠) practices and their prospects. Dr Ria Dunkley will discuss the question of who is included in decision-making processes around the climate emergency and how providing opportunities for public participation in scientific research enhance community involvement in environmental governance. Finally, Dr Nai Rui Chng will discuss the question of what might “success” mean in the climate change context from an ecological modernisation perspective and how we can evaluate it.
Biographies (in order of appearance)
Dr Neil Munro is a Senior Lecturer in Chinese Politics at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Glasgow. His research focuses on participation in governance in authoritarian and developing societies. He has also published on a wide range of themes ranging from acceptance of bureaucratic norms through national identity, regime legitimacy and social cohesion. His current research focuses on “carbon inclusion” schemes aimed at popularising low-carbon choices in China.
Mr YU Wei is Executive Director and Researcher of the Carbon Neutrality and Green Development Research Centre in the School of Law at China Jiliang University, Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the Zhejiang Environmental Protection Federation, and Deputy Secretary-General of the Expert Committee for Peak Carbon and Carbon Neutrality of the China Ecological Civilization Research and Promotion Association. With an interdisciplinary background in environmental engineering and environmental law, he has long been engaged in environmental public governance research and environmental education dissemination. He led the local partnership project of the EU-China Environmental Governance Project "Public participation of environmental governance in the Jiaxing model and its applicability in Zhejiang Province" (2012.9-2015.3). His current work focuses on climate change and biodiversity collaborative research in China. He has taken the lead in proposing the model of the biodiversity-friendly city model and is carrying out relevant practical research in Zhejiang. Mr Yu is currently a visiting fellow within the School of Social and Political Sciences at University of Glasgow.
Dr Ria Dunkley is a Senior Lecturer in Geography, Environment and Sustainability within the School of Education at the University of Glasgow. She specialises in ecopedagogy as a route to enabling both an understanding of the climate crisis and empowering individuals, communities and organisations to initiate sustainable solutions through research, education and partnership. She leads the Community Collaboration work within the £10.2m NERC-funded project “Glasgow as a Living Lab Accelerating Novel Transformation” (GALLANT). She is co-chair of the European CIVIS hub for Climate, Energy and Environment and Associate Director of the Centre for Sustainable Solutions.
Dr Nai Rui Chng is a Research Fellow specialising in the field of Evaluation science and practice. He works at the interface of human, animal and environmental health (One Health) and seeks to understand how complex interventions can be designed, implemented, evaluated, and disseminated to achieve impact for the health and wellbeing of our planet. His cross-disciplinary research and practice is funded by NERC, NIHR, Wellcome, and Aspect. He is a Co-Investigator in the Community Collaboration Team within GALLANT, and is the Founding Director of Good Evaluation, a social science venture that uses evaluative thinking to facilitate and co-produce solutions with stakeholders for the health and wellbeing for people, animals, and the environment.
The Scottish Centre for China Research Seminar Programme gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the MacFie Bequest.
For more details on the SCCR Seminar Series: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/socialpolitical/research/sccr/events/
First published: 20 September 2023
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