National University of Singapore

USS2105 University Scholars Seminar

Remarks
For students reading USS2105, please note that this will be the second last talk for this semester. The final talk will be presented by all three instructors on 5 Nov 2009. More details will be made known to you soon.

Abstract
As the dazzling economic and social changes in China have imposed substantial impact upon the quality of environmental governance, it is time to review the problems and progress in the politics of China’s environmental protection. This seminar analyzes the factors in China’s governance and political process that affect and restrain its capacity to handle the mounting environmental problems. It argues that solutions to China’s ecological woes to a larger extent lie in the political and institutional changes rather than in engineering, technological and investment input. The speaker will talk about new policies and reform measures in the green area taken by the government since 2007, arguing that some of them may be quite effective in the long run, as long as they alter institutional factors and the “growth-first” mindset that obstruct the green effort. The seminar also includes discussion of China’s climate change policy not only because global warming has come under the limelight of the international community in recent years, but also because it offers a unique dimension to analyze the country’s environmental diplomacy and domestic bureaucratic structure on emissions cutting and related energy issues.

About the Speaker:
Dr. Chen Gang is now Research Fellow at the East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore. He studied international relations and obtained his Ph.D. degree at the China Foreign Affairs University. Before joining the East Asian Institute in 2007, he had worked as a journalist covering Chinese political and business news for more than five years in China. He is the single author of Politics of China's Environmental Protection: Problems and Progress (Singapore: World Scientific, 2009) and The Kyoto Protocol and International Cooperation against Climate Change (Beijing: Xinhua Press, 2008). His research papers have appeared in refereed journals such as China: An International Journal, Twenty-First Century, The Chinese Journal of International Politics, The Journal of East Asian Affairs, East Asian Policy, American Studies Quarterly, Journal of China Foreign Affairs University and the International Forum. His research interests include China’s domestic politics and foreign policy, environmental governance, international relations and transnational cooperation against climate change.