Worldwatch Special Focus: China

Worldwatch Institute's China Program helps decision makers both in China and around the globe better understand the environmental challenges and opportunities facing this vast country of 1.3 billion people. By providing independent and credible research on China's natural resources, environment, energy, climate change, and policies, Worldwatch serves as a go-to source on China's sustainable development. The program also aims to build capacity among Chinese researchers and to connect them with the Institute's global network of like-minded experts.

With China overtaking the United States as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, how this influential country tackles its rising energy demand and other environmental challenges has become a global concern. The environmental consequences of China's current economic development already reach beyond national borders. The choices that China makes both now and in the future will have a decisive impact on Earth's ability to sustain the ecological systems on which human wellbeing depends.

The current political climate offers new opportunities for greater environmental understanding and cooperation between the United States and China. Progress on international climate negotiations will depend on a new level of leadership by both governments. As a globally focused research institute, Worldwatch is well poised to help bridge the information gap between leaders and researchers from both countries and to facilitate better communication on sustainability between China and the rest of the world.

Staff

Yingling Liu, China Program Manager

Watch Worldwatch China Program Manager Yingling Liu on PBS's Foreign Exchange.

Major Projects

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Status Report on China
Commissioned by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), this project will provide a comprehensive review of the status of renewable energy and energy efficiency in China as of the end of 2008. The report will lay the framework for constructive policy recommendations to help Chinese decision makers address domestic energy and environmental challenges. It will also enable other nations to learn from China's extensive experience in promoting clean energy options.

China Watch Archives
Read archived news and analysis from China Watch, a joint project of the Worldwatch Institute and the Global Environmental Institute in Beijing.

Worldwatch Mandarin-language Web Site

Worldwatch Publications

Powering China's Development: The Role of Renewable Energy
Released in late 2007, this special report provides a look at China's progress in becoming a renewable energy leader.

State of the World 2006: Special Focus, China and India
This 2006 edition of Worldwatch's flagship annual publication looks at China and India's rapid development and at the growing impact these two countries have as major consumers of resources and polluters of both local and global ecosystems.

Recent Articles

"A Chinese Perspective on Climate and Energy," in Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2009 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2009).

"Environmental Movement," in Berkshire Encyclopedia of China, May 2009.

Partners

Global Environmental Institute (GEI)
GEI is China's first independent environmental research institute and has been a Worldwatch partner since 2005. GEI's main focus is to provide market-based models for solving environmental problems, in order to achieve development that is economically, ecologically, and socially sustainable.

Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association (CREIA)
Set up in 2000, CREIA aims to encourage the development and utilization of renewable energy in China to address the environmental and energy problems arising from the country's current development course. As an independent industrial association, CREIA is a knowledge powerhouse on China's renewable energy sector. It also reaches out to China's government and policy research organizations specializing in renewable energy and energy industries.

China Environmental Science Press (CESP)
Established in 1980 and affiliated with China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, CESP is the major national publisher of environmental books in China. It has published more than 4,000 environmental books, over 100 of which have won national awards. CESP is dedicated to promoting environmental education and information dissemination and works to expand its national distribution channels via an extensive network of bookstore outlets across the country. Worldwatch partnered with CESP in publishing State of the World 2008 in China and maintains an active partnership with the publisher.

The Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP)
The Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEP) is an active, global partnership that works to reduce the barriers within policy, regulatory and financial structures that bar and limit the uptake of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and projects. Backed by national governments, businesses, development banks and NGOs, REEEP is uniquely placed to contribute to international, national and regional policy dialogues.