"From pollution to solution: will China save the planet?" with Barbara Finamore

Past Event

Date
18 June 2019, 5:00pm - 6:15pm

Location
Lecture Theatre, Oxford Martin School
34 Broad Street (corner of Holywell and Catte Streets), Oxford, OX1 3BD

Event Recording:

Now that Trump has turned the United States into a global climate outcast, will China take the lead in saving our planet from environmental catastrophe?

This is a joint book talk with The Rockefeller Foundation Economic Council on Planetary Health at the Oxford Martin School

Now that Trump has turned the United States into a global climate outcast, will China take the lead in saving our planet from environmental catastrophe? Many signs point to yes. China, the world's largest carbon emitter, is leading a global clean energy revolution, phasing out coal consumption and leading the development of a global system of green finance.

But as leading China environmental expert and author of Will China Save the Planet? Barbara Finamore will explain in this talk, it is anything but easy. The fundamental economic and political challenges that China faces in addressing its domestic environmental crisis threaten to derail its low-carbon energy transition. Yet there is reason for hope. China's leaders understand that transforming the world's second largest economy from one dependent on highly polluting heavy industry to one focused on clean energy, services and innovation is essential, not only to the future of the planet, but to China's own prosperity.

We will also hear from respondent Radhika Khosla, Research Director at the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development, Somerville College.

This talk will be followed by a drinks reception, book sale and signing, all welcome

Barbara Finamore

Barbara Finamore
Senior Strategic Director for Asia at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Barbara Finamore is the Senior Strategic Director for Asia at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). She has nearly four decades of experience in environmental law and energy policy. In 1996, she founded NRDC’s China Programme, the first clean energy programme to be launched by an international NGO. She also served as President and Chair of the Professional Association for China's Environment (PACE) and is the co-founder and President of the China-U.S. Energy Innovation Alliance. In 2017, Barbara was named a member of Foreign Policy’s “The U.S.-China 50”, a group of 50 individuals who are powering the world's most complex and consequential relationship. She holds a J.D. degree with honors from Harvard Law School.