China Lecture Series
Institutional and Policy Pathways to Carbon Neutrality in China by 2060
This lecture series is co-organized by the Centre for Modern East Asian Studies at the University of Göttingen and the Kiel Institute China Initiative.
Speaker: Valerie J. Karplus (Carnegie Mellon University)
President Xi Jinping has announced that China will pursue a goal of net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2060. This talk will examine the evolution of China’s institutions and policies as they relate to carbon management and ask how they will need to further change in order to support the country’s 2060 ambitions. The talk will conclude by discussing the potential for China’s emissions trading system for carbon dioxide, which is currently under development, to contribute to the 2060 goal.
Bio: Valerie J. Karplus is an associate professor (with tenure) in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Karplus studies resource and environmental management in firms operating in diverse national and industry contexts, with a focus on the role of institutions and management practices in explaining performance. Karplus is an expert on China’s energy system, including technology and business model innovation, energy system governance, and the management of air pollution and climate change. She previously worked as a faculty member at the MIT Sloan School of Management, in the development policy section of the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, Germany, as a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow, and in the biotechnology industry in Beijing, China, as a Luce Scholar. From 2011 to 2015, she directed the MIT-Tsinghua China Energy and Climate Project, a five-year research effort focused on analyzing the design of energy and climate change policy in China, and its domestic and global impacts.