Scottish Centre for China Research

Environmental governance in China

The Scottish Centre for China Research has a programme of research on environmental governance in China. Themes covered include political leadership, social learning, public participation, public awareness, data activism, contention, strategic narratives and environmental values in relation to such issue areas as climate change, air and water pollution, green tourism, green tech, transboundary rivers and sustainable agriculture.

We welcome proposals for PhD study with a China focus in these and related fields. You can find out more about our publications, completed PhD dissertations and research projects below.

Publications on environmental governance in China

 
Weiyu Zhang, Yu Sun, Ding Xiang Chua and Yun Lin Seet. (2026). ‘Digital environmentalism and non-confrontational activism in the lifeworld’, in Xu, J., Guo, S.H., and Zhang, W., Sage Handbook of Chinese Digital Media and Communication. Sage.  
 
 
 
 
 
Sun, Yu and Yan, Wenjie (2020) The power of data from the global south: environmental civic tech and data activism in China. International Journal of Communication, 14, pp. 2144-2162.
 
Sun, Yu , Graham, Todd and Broersma, Marcel (2018) Environmental talk in the Chinese green public sphere: a comparative analysis of daily green-speak across three Chinese online forums. In: Schwanholz, Julia, Graham, Todd and Stoll, Peter-Tobias (eds.) Managing Democracy in the Digital Age. Springer International Publishing: Cham, Switzerland, pp. 243-263. ISBN 9783319617084 (doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-61708-4_13)
 
Zhang, Guanli, Lin, Ka and Munro, Neil  (2015) European experience of public participation in environmental governance. In: Lin, Ka and Lv, Haoran (eds.) International Experience of Environmental Protection and Public Participation. China Environmental Press: Beijing, China, pp. 25-68. ISBN 9787511124524
 
Munro, Neil  (2014) Profiling the victims: public awareness of pollution-related harm in China. Journal of Contemporary China, 23(86), pp. 314-329. (doi: 10.1080/10670564.2013.832532)
 
Munro, N.  (2013) The socio-political bases of willingness to join environmental NGOs in China: a study in social cohesion. International Journal of Social Quality, 3(1), pp. 57-81. (doi: 10.3167/IJSQ.2013.030105)

PhD dissertations on environmental governance in China

Zhang, Qingyue (2026) The impact of Mekong transboundary water disputes on China’s relations with Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia: a strategic narrative analysis. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Stanton, Alasdair T.  (2025) The Party leads: Chinese air pollution as complex system. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Bu, Wenchao (2025) How effective is China’s SO2 emissions regulation? PhD thesis, University of Glasgow. 

Ye, Yitong (2024) Explaining the variation of climate policy ambition across countries. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Deng, Yajun (2022) China’s approach to climate change and environmental protection as a response to public preferences, and the effects of this on public understanding and attitudes to political support. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Yu, Dingming (2022) The ideology of the Chinese Communist Party behind climate change coverage- a framing analysis of People's Daily. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Projects on environmental governance in China

British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant "Fostering a collective approach to climate justice through big data", £9,990, September 2025, SRG25-251854 (PI, Yu Sun)

EU-China Environmental Governance Programme, Public participation of environmental governance in the Jiaxing model and its applicability in Zhejiang province. October 2012--September 2014. Neil Munro and Nai Rui Chng, with Wei YU (PI, Zhejiang Provincial Government), Laurence Van Der Maesen (European Foundation for Social Quality), Hinrich Voss (Leeds), and Ka LIN (Zhejiang University). €420,000, of which €25,000 to U. Glasgow.

For more information about research on China's environmental governance at University of Glasgow, contact: Neil.Munro@glasgow.ac.uk