SMART Talks on Climate Change
全球气候变化青年领袖项目

Session Introduction: The increasing concerns about environmental pollutions, climate change, and resource challenges drive the development of sustainable solutions that can meet societal needs without compromising the environment or depleting the resources for future generations. Given many technological, behavioral, and policy options, it is challenging to determine which option best serves humanity and the environment. Life cycle assessment offers a systems approach to support these decisions. This talk will discuss life cycle thinking and give examples of how integrated life-cycle systems analyses can enhance engineering, process, supply chain, and policy design for a low-carbon future.

Dr. Yuan Yao is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Systems at the Yale School of the Environment. Her research is motivated by the increasing need for sustainable solutions that can support industrial development without compromising the environment or depleting the resources for future generations. Dr. Yao has been leading collaborative projects with U.S. national labs, private companies, and non-profits.

Session Introduction: Precipitation supplies a water resource that is vital to the society. Too much of it however will increase flood risk. As recent flooding in China and around the world has shown, climate change can create dramatic effects that include extreme consequences. In this talk, Xuhui Lee will review the state of science regarding projections of precipitation change in a future warmer world. Will global total precipitation increase, and if so by how much? Will individual rain events become more intense, and if so why and by how much? Which is more likely: wetter climates get wetter and drier climates get drier, or vice versa?

Professor Lee’s research and teaching concern the interactions between the terrestrial biosphere, the atmosphere and anthropogenic drivers. His areas of interest include boundary-layer meteorology, micrometeorological instrumentation, remote sensing, and carbon cycle science. One focus of his research activity is on biophysical effects of land use on the climate system.

Session Introduction: In addition to understanding the issues of science and policy surrounding climate change, it is important to factor in the cultural values that shape human behavior toward nature. Confucianism has been the primary ethical system in China from earlier times to the present, providing a wealth of resources for rethinking our relationship with the environment. How might these ancient values speak to the current challenges of climate change?

Mary Evelyn Tucker is a Senior Lecturer and Research Scholar at Yale University where she has appointments in the School of the Environment as well as the Divinity School and the Department of Religious Studies. She teaches in the joint MA program in religion and ecology and directs the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale with her husband, John Grim.

Session Introduction: The 2018 Nobel laureate for economics will analyze science, economics, and politics involved in the debate over the climate change and lay out the next critical steps for slowing the trajectory of global warming.

William Nordhaus completed his undergraduate work at Yale University in 1963 and received his Ph.D. in Economics in 1967 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. He has been Full Professor of Economics since 1973 and also is Professor in Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

William Nordhaus is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is on the research staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research and has been a member and senior advisor of the Brookings Panel on Economic Activity, Washington, D.C. since 1972. He serves on the Congressional Budget Office Panel of Economic Experts and was the first Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

In 2004, William Nordhaus was awarded the prize of “Distinguished Fellow” by the American Economic Association. His research has focused on economic growth and natural resources, the economics of climate change, as well as the resource constraints on economic growth. Since the 1970s, he has developed economic approaches to global warming, including the construction of integrated economic and scientific models (the DICE and RICE models) to determine the efficient path for coping with climate change.

Session Introduction: Global energy expert Xizhou Zhou will talk about the way technology revolutions in energy are influencing geopolitics, security, climate, and health.

Xizhou Zhou: Xizhou Zhou is a vice president at IHS Markit and leads the company’s power and renewables practice globally. Zhou has expertise in power and renewable market fundamentals analysis and forecasting, power market design and policy analysis, renewable energy business models, and company strategies.?

Before his ten-year tenure in Beijing, Zhou began his career at IHS Markit through one of its predecessor companies, Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), as part of its Emerging Markets and Global Power groups in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Before that, he worked as a consultant on regulatory economics for Industrial Economics, Inc. in Boston and as a research analyst at the World Resources Institute in Washington, DC.

Zhou holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of Environmental Management, both from Yale University. He has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Yale-China Association and is currently an editorial board member of China Petroleum Society’s official journal,?Guoji Shiyou Jingji?(International Petroleum Economics). He is currently based in Washington, DC.

Session Introduction: Laws and regulations play a big role in solving environmental problems. It is expected that mandatory laws and regulations can promote environment protection and related ESG engagement among more stakeholders on a larger scale. In this talk, Gao Xiqing proposes that we need a strong government, which can turn the environmental problems into legal problems and empower related authorities. He will also share his experience involved with how China Investment Corporation (CIC) formulated the “three no” policy to guide investment.

Gao Xiqing is Hongtian Chair Professor of Law School at the University of International Business and Economics, former Vice Chairman, President and CIO of the China Investment Corporation. Prior to that, Gao has working experiences both in Wall Street and Chinese financial regulatory bodies. Gao gained his Master of Economics and Law in International Economic Law from the University of International Business and Economics, and JD from Duke University.

Session Introduction: Data can guide people in solving environmental problems and be the foundation for China achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. In this talk, Ma Jun will discuss the role of environmental data regarding evaluating, supervising, and providing solutions for environmental pollution. It is found that the implication of environmental data and green finance have helped more than 15,000 companies improve their business performances.

Ma Jun is the Director of the Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE). He founded IPE in 2006. He also developed the first public environmental database in China to promote the establishment of green supply chains and green finance. Ma was nominated as one of Time 100 by Times in 2006, and one of the World's 50 Greatest Leader by Fortune in 2018.

Session Introduction: Applying Market-Based Instruments (MBIs) in solving environmental problems has been a big step forward. This talk will focus on China’s Carbon Trading System, the largest of its kind in the world. Zhang Jianyu will share his experiences and insights from leading the establishment of the national carbon market and designing environmental public policies in general.

Zhang Jianyu is the Chief Representative of Environmental Defense Fund’s China Program. Dr. Zhang has been involved in establishing China’s Carbon Trading System since 2013. He helped found the China program of Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a leading US environmental NGO, since 1999. Dr. Zhang serves on many advisory boards, including Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) and is a special advisor for China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED).

Session Introduction: An introduction to how to communicate about scientific issues to a large audience of non-scientists.

Carl Zimmer is a popular science writer, blogger, columnist, and journalist who specializes in the topics of evolution, parasites, and heredity. The author of many books, he contributes science essays to publications such as The New York Times, Discover, and National Geographic. He is a fellow at Yale University's Morse College and adjunct professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University. Zimmer also gives frequent lectures and has appeared on many radio shows, including National Public Radio's Radiolab, Fresh Air, and This American Life.

Session Introduction: As you prepare to write persuasively about climate change and sustainability, we look at key points for writing an effective op-ed. What are the essential elements of a well-written piece, and how can you ensure you communicate your point clearly and convincingly?

2020 marks his twenty-eighth year directing writing programs, including previous positions at New York University, Princeton, and Johns Hopkins. Much of his scholarship in composition and rhetoric has focused on the link between writing and intellectual development; his later work in the field investigates academic freedom and teaching conditions of non-tenured faculty (including graduate student teachers). His research in science fiction examines new configurations of American feminism since the retrenchment of the 1980s, including attention to Patricia Anthony, Octavia Butler, William Gibson, and Maureen McHugh.

Session Introduction: Writing takes hard work and collaboration. In this session, we will look at the writing process and discuss how to take advantage of fellow writers to help craft a better piece of writing. Learn about what to look for as you help others edit their writing while you participate in the peer review process.

2020 marks his twenty-eighth year directing writing programs, including previous positions at New York University, Princeton, and Johns Hopkins. Much of his scholarship in composition and rhetoric has focused on the link between writing and intellectual development; his later work in the field investigates academic freedom and teaching conditions of non-tenured faculty (including graduate student teachers). His research in science fiction examines new configurations of American feminism since the retrenchment of the 1980s, including attention to Patricia Anthony, Octavia Butler, William Gibson, and Maureen McHugh.

Session Introduction: After discussing the basics of persuasive writing, editing and reviewing, and writing about science, we will practice to put everything together and discuss writing about climate change from a seasoned writer. We will discuss what pitfalls to avoid, what particular strategies work, and how can you make your piece more impactful.

Fred Strebeigh, B.A. Yale University, faculty member at Yale since 1984.Fred Strebeigh’s nonfiction writing has covered a wide range of subjects including the history and origins of nature writing, the arts and crafts movement in America, the role of the bicycle as a cultural force in China, educational exchange between China and the United States, the creation of a dictionary of American dialects, pressures on the Antarctic treaty system, natural and social conditions in the Falkland Islands, the race to create radar during World War II, traces of early man in southern Africa, the rise of feminist law, saving whales from fishing nets off the coast of Newfoundland, the impact of environmental issues on the presidential election in 2004, and defending the world’s largest system of scientific nature reserves in Russia.