China's Environment Goes Global

Elizabeth Economy, Asia Director of the Council on Foreign Relations, will examine the environmental and social impact China has on the world as a result of its economic development.

When:

April 29, 2009 4:00pm to 5:30pm

China's extraordinary economic growth has caused enormous damage to the country’s environment. Globally, China is now among the leading contributors to climate change, pollution of the Pacific Ocean, and illegal timber trade. Moreover, as China seeks natural resources to fuel its growth, it exerts a profound economic, environmental, political, and social impact on many developing countries.

What steps are China’s leaders taking to address the domestic and global environmental consequences of economic development? How are Chinese multinationals responding to environmental and political problems on the ground in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia? Is there a role for China’s emerging civil society in redefining how business is conducted?

Elizabeth Economy is the author of many works, including the prize-winning study The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China's Future.

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Elizabeth Economy is C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director of Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Her most recent book, The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China's Future (Cornell University Press, 2004), won the 2005 International Convention on Asia Scholars award for best social sciences book. Her writings appear often in publications such as Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the International Herald Tribune, and she is a frequent radio and television commentator on U.S.-China Relations. Dr. Economy regularly testifies before Congress and consults for the U.S. government and corporations on Chinese environmental issues. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, her M.A. from Stanford University, and her B.A. from Swarthmore College.

Elizabeth Economy spoke at the USC U.S.-China Institute conference on “The Future of U.S.-China Relations.”

Cost:

Free