DESCRIPTION

Understanding China’s stance on environmental governance is more pressing than ever. Not only is China the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, it plays a crucial role in global supply chains and also faces ongoing water and biodiversity challenges.

Non-state actors such as profit-making organisations and business associations have grown in number and legitimacy in the last decade. Yet their role in Chinese governance has attracted little attention, according to the authors of Non-state actors in China and global environmental governance.

Hear from the book’s editors – prominent governance, law and international relations scholars – and senior figures from two of the book’s case studies at this upcoming webinar.

OVERVIEW

• Prof Dan Guttman (Fudan University Institute for Global Public Policy and Tianjin University Law School) will outline the book’s central thesis.

• Shanshan Ding (Helen) (Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, Beijing) will discuss this thesis in the context of IPE’s work to improve the environmental performance of industry in China.

• Dr Michael Spencer (Monash Business School) will discuss the evolution and growth of water stewardship, a multi-stakeholder collaboration to improve global water management in China.

• Prof Yijia Jing (Institute for Global Public Policy, Fudan-LSE Research Centre for Global Public Policy, and School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University) will place these developments within a Chinese context.

• Zhenzhen Xu (Stewardship Australia) will discuss the case studies.

Presentations followed by a discussion facilitated by Prof Young (Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California Santa Barbara).

PENNELLISTS

Oran Young 

Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA.

Prof Young is a world leader in the fields of international governance and environmental institutions, and a renowned Arctic expert. His scientific work encompasses basic research focusing on collective choice and social institutions, and applied research on international environmental governance and the Arctic as an international region. He has written more than 20 books, and authored or co-authored a wide range of scholarly articles on governance. Professor Young has taught widely on environmental politics and policy, governance for sustainable development, environmental institutions, and the ecology of war. He has been a leader in global change research for several decades.

Shanshan Ding 

Green Supply Chain Director, Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), China.

Shanshan Ding (Helen) currently serves one of China’s leading environmental organisations. For the past five years, Ms Ding has worked with an enthusiastic team engaging nearly 100 multinationals sourcing from China to improve the environmental performance and reduce carbon emissions in their China supply chains. She and her team also employ the Green Supply Chain CITI Evaluation (co-developed by IPE and the Natural Resources Defense Council, NRDC in 2014) and the latest Corporate Climate Action Transparency Index (CATI) to evaluate brands’ environmental and carbon management of supply chains in China. Helen has contributed to two books on the issue of green supply chain, both published in Chinese in 2020. Prior to joining IPE, Helen worked for three years as an assistant researcher at the School of Environment, Tsinghua University, China.

Michael Spencer 

Teaching Associate, Monash Business School, Monash University, and RMIT University.

Michael Spencer teaches on international institutions and organisations at Monash University and applied research methods at RMIT University. He consults to private and not-for-profit organisations, is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Global Water Institute at the University of New South Wales and an associate of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute. He was a founder of the Alliance for Water Stewardship, serving as inaugural chair for a decade. He has served as founding CEO for AWS Asia Pacific and the Forest Stewardship Council in Australia. He previously served as the head of marketing and communication at FSC international in Germany. His business career included serving as the first head of corporate citizenship at National Australia Bank, head of corporate affairs at BlueScope Steel, and vice-president communication at BHP.

Zhenzhen Xu 

Regional Manager, Alliance for Water Stewardship Asia-Pacific, Shanghai, China.

Zhenzhen Xu is Regional Manager for the Alliance for Water Stewardship Asia-Pacific (also known as Water Stewardship Australia) based in Shanghai. She previously worked as a co-leader of the China Water Program for the International Finance Corporate (IFC), with the World Bank Group; as a business development officer and project manager with Veolia Water in China; and as a water engineer with Sogreah Environmental Protection Consultancy. She holds a Bachelor of Environmental Engineering from Tongil University, China, and a Master of Environmental Management and Development from the Australian National University, Australia.

ORGANIZERS

Governance and Regulation Research Network (GARNET), Centre for Global Business (CGB)