Environment

FSI scholars approach their research on the environment from regulatory, economic and societal angles. The Center on Food Security and the Environment weighs the connection between climate change and agriculture; the impact of biofuel expansion on land and food supply; how to increase crop yields without expanding agricultural lands; and the trends in aquaculture. FSE’s research spans the globe – from the potential of smallholder irrigation to reduce hunger and improve development in sub-Saharan Africa to the devastation of drought on Iowa farms. David Lobell, a senior fellow at FSI and a recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant, has looked at the impacts of increasing wheat and corn crops in Africa, South Asia, Mexico and the United States; and has studied the effects of extreme heat on the world’s staple crops.

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Tuesday, February 1, 2022 | 4:00-5:15 pm Pacific Time

The Impacts of Pollution Levies on Chinese Firms

China's rollout of emission fee reform since 2007 provides a quasi-natural experiment to study the effectiveness of pollution levy on firm emissions and economic consequences. Using firm-level financial and pollution data, we find that doubling the levy rate leads to a 6.87% reduction in SO2 emissions. Firms achieve emission abatement through reducing output and coal consumption rather than end-of-the-pipe solutions. 


About the Speaker

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Junjie Zhang

Junjie Zhang is Associate Professor of Environmental Economics in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. Since 2016, he has founded the Environmental Research Center and International Master of Environmental Policy Program at Duke Kunshan University. During 2021-22, he serves as Volkswagen Visiting Chair in Sustainability in the Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University. Zhang is a co-chair for the Environmental Economics Committee in the Chinese Academy of Environmental Science, an advisory board member for the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, and a board member for the Professional Association for China's Environment. He has also served on the editorial board of several academic journals. Before his current position, he was an associate professor in the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California, San Diego. Zhang's research centers on empirical policy issues in air pollution, energy transition, and climate change. He has received fundings from the U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, China National Natural Science Foundation, China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment, China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, Energy Foundation, Packard Foundation, World Bank, and Asian Development Bank. He holds a B.S. from Renmin University of China, a B.S. and an M.S. from Tsinghua University, and a Ph.D. from Duke University.

 

Seminar Series Moderators:

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Headshot of Dr. Scott Rozelle

Scott Rozelle is the Helen F. Farnsworth Senior Fellow and the co-director of Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research at Stanford University.  For the past 30 years, he has worked on the economics of poverty reduction. Currently, his work on poverty has its full focus on human capital, including issues of rural health, nutrition and education. For the past 20 year, Rozelle has been the chair of the International Advisory Board of the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Most recently, Rozelle's research focuses on the economics of poverty and inequality, with an emphasis on rural education, health and nutrition in China. In recognition of this work, Dr. Rozelle has received numerous honors and awards. Among them, he became a Yangtse Scholar (Changjiang Xuezhe) in Renmin University of China in 2008. In 2008 he also was awarded the Friendship Award by Premiere Wen Jiabao, the highest honor that can be bestowed on a foreigner. 

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Hongbin Li is the Co-director of Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions, and a Senior Fellow of Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). Hongbin obtained his Ph.D. in economics from Stanford University in 2001 and joined the economics department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), where he became full professor in 2007. He was also one of the two founding directors of the Institute of Economics and Finance at the CUHK. He taught at Tsinghua University in Beijing 2007-2016 and was C.V. Starr Chair Professor of Economics in the School of Economics and Management. He founded the Chinese College Student Survey (CCSS) in 2009 and the China Employer-Employee Survey (CEES) in 2014.

Hongbin’s research has been focused on the transition and development of the Chinese economy, and the evidence-based research results have been both widely covered by media outlets and well read by policy makers around the world. He is currently the co-editor of the Journal of Comparative Economics.


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This article was originally published by the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Click here to read the full article.


From regulating crypto to arresting the effects of climate change, an international panel of scholars and business leaders examined ways the United States and China can work together in a webinar hosted by Stanford University.

The 2021 China Economic Forum, conducted online on November 12, featured discussions on sustainability and finance, “to advance dialogue and collaboration between Stanford and our partners in China,” said Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne in remarks prior to the conference.

“The last year and a half has highlighted for everyone the increasing level of global interdependence, whether it is health, supply chains, finance, the need for cooperation — especially between the U.S. and China — as we contend with the effects of climate change and the need for new and sustainable sources of energy,” said Jonathan Levin, dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business.

 

Read the full article.

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Panel at Stanford China Economic Forum discusses climate change, financial technology as key areas of mutual interest.

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Bhutan time: Friday, February 4th, 2022, 8am to 9am.

Asia Health Policy Program (AHPP) 2021-22 Colloquium series "Aligning Incentives for Better Health and More Resilient Health Systems in Asia”

The Minister of Health of Bhutan, Her Excellency Dasho Dechen Wangmo, will share her insights and experiences from managing the national health system during the COVID-19 crisis, serving as President of the 74th World Health Assembly, and her views on health system strengthening, innovative primary care, chronic disease control, health governance, and the global implications of the pandemic as it unfolds in its third year.

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Bhutan Health Minister 010522
Her Excellency Dasho Dechen Wangmo, the only female Minister in the current cabinet of Bhutan, formally took charge of the Ministry of Health on 7th November 2018. Prior to joining politic in 2018, Her Excellency worked as a public health international consultant with primary focus on health systems, governance, policy and strategic planning for governments and civil societies in many countries (USA, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, PNG, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Senegal). She brings her background working on various global health issues including health system strengthening, health governance, grant implementation, monitoring and evaluation system to the current portfolio.

On 17th December 2020 in recognition of her outstanding service to the Nation, she was conferred the “Red Scarf”, one of highest honors a Bhutanese civilian can receive, by His Majesty the King. Her Excellency is a passionate public health advocate and social worker at heart. Hon’ble Lyonpo was nominated as the President of the 74th World Health Assembly (WHA) by Member States of the WHO’s South East Asia Region in 2020. She will hold the office of the President for a duration of one year and it is an honour bestowed on Bhutan for the first time since it became a member of the WHO in 1982.

In addition to her memberships in professional organizations, she is also a founder of the Bhutan Cancer Society, a CSO working for the well being of cancer patients in Bhutan, and a founding chairperson for Lhaksam, the HIV-positive network in the country. Her Excellency has a Master in Public Health (MPH) from Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, USA, and a Bachelor in Cardiopulmonary Science (magna cum laude) from Northeastern University, Boston, USA.

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In October 2021, Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy, SCPKU, and the China Program with Peking University’s Institute of Energy organized closed-door roundtables to promote China and the United States' decarbonization and carbon neutrality. The topics covered climate change, global sustainable finance, corporate climate pledges, opportunities and challenges, the power, transportation, and industry sectors. The full report can be found in the link.

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About the Seminar: In this time of great challenges, our democracies urgently need to produce citizens who can move from demanding change to making it. But the skills for doing so are not innate, they are learned. In this talk, Beth Simone Noveck will discuss how both citizens and governments can take advantage of digital technology, data, and the collective wisdom of our communities to design and deliver powerful solutions to contemporary problems. Drawing on the latest methods from data and social sciences, including original survey data from around the world, she proposes a practical set of methods for public servants, community leaders, students, activists, and anyone who wants to be a catalyst for positive social change.

 

Register Now

 

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About the Speaker: Beth Simone Noveck is a professor at Northeastern University, where she directs the Burnes Family Center for Global Impact and its partner project, The Governance Lab (The GovLab) and its MacArthur Research Network on Opening Governance. The author of Solving Public Problems: How to Fix Our Government and Change Our World (Yale Press 2021) (named a Best Book of 2021 by Stanford Social Innovation Review), she is also Core Faculty at the Institute for Experiential AI (IEAI) at Northeastern. New Jersey governor Phil Murphy appointed her as the state’s first Chief Innovation Officer and Chancellor Angela Merkel named her to her Digital Council in 2018. Previously, Beth served in the White House as the first United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer and director of the White House Open Government Initiative under President Obama. UK Prime Minister David Cameron appointed her senior advisor for Open Government.

In addition to Solving Public Problems, Beth is the author of Smart Citizens, Smarter State: The Technologies of Expertise and the Future of Governing (Harvard Univ Press 2015) and Wiki Government: How Technology Can Make Government Better, Democracy Stronger and Citizens More Powerful (Brookings 2009) and co-editor of The State of Play: Law, Games and Virtual Worlds (NYU Press, 2005).

Online, via Zoom.

Beth Simone Noveck Director | The GovLab
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Shiro comes to Stanford after 5 years working in social impact and international development in the United States as well as across East Africa. Most recently, she worked with GiveDirectly, supporting systems’ improvements and operations across their programs as Chief of Staff for International Programs. Prior to that, she was a manager on the internal consulting team at One Acre Fund where she led multiple global talent and change management projects. Shiro is passionate about sustainable, community-led development and is interested in pursuing a career at the intersection of climate resilience and development. She is particularly interested in agriculture, food systems, and urban adaptations to climate change. Shiro graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Chicago (AB ‘16) with a degree in philosophy. Immediately after graduating, she served as a public service fellow with a New York based charity through University of Chicago’s competitive Shriver Public Service Fellowship program.

Master's in International Policy Class of 2023
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Ben Zehr comes to his graduate studies after four years running Kisano, a vertical farming technology company in India. Growing up, Ben was surrounded by conversations about food, livelihoods, and impact driven technology – topics that translated to a personal interest in sustainable development over the course of his academic career. After fusing his ag-development interests with applied economics studies at Cornell, Ben put this passion to work at Kisano. Today, Kisano operates India’s largest high-tech vertical farm and focuses its efforts on enabling the growth of efficient, climate smart farming techniques through knowledge and technology dissemination in South and Southeast Asia. Through the Master's in International Policy, with a focus on food and the environment, Ben hopes to broaden his understanding and build his capacity to tackle the challenges of the next 100 years. When he isn’t thinking about those things though, Ben loves cooking family style meals, reading nonfiction, hiking when he can, and making music with friends.

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Taimur is joining MIP after spending the past 3 years as a management consultant at McKinsey, focusing on operational transformations, strategy development, and design thinking across various industries. Prior to that, he was working on an agricultural development project in Pakistan as a quantitiave research assistant, focusing on improving yields and incomes in some of the poorest villages of the country. His interests are at the intersection of economic development, energy systems, social theory, and new technologies. At MIP, he is particularly focusing on how a better understanding of the monetary system, energy inequality, and blockchain technology can help solve the climate crisis. He has a background in International Economics from Georgetown University (Qatar campus), where he was awarded the Abu Hamid Al Ghazzali Best Graduating Student Award. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, and avidly watching/playing football (soccer), tennis, and cricket.

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Joyce is a Master’s in International Policy candidate at Stanford, where she specializes in energy, natural resources and the environment. She is also one of the editors-in-chief of Stanford International Policy Review. Joyce’s research interests lie at the intersection of economic diplomacy and environmental governance. Previously, Joyce worked at AidData, an international development research lab, where she studied Chinese public diplomacy efforts in two major world regions and led the assembling of a novel dataset that tracked $843 billion in Chinese development financing around the world. She has also worked for UN Women’s China office and the US-ASEAN Business Council in the past. Joyce received a B.A. in International Affairs and Economics from the George Washington University. Born and raised in Singapore, Joyce is bilingual in English and Mandarin Chinese. In her spare time, Joyce enjoys reading, baking, painting, and playing board games.

Master's in International Policy Class of 2023
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Calli Obern is pursuing her Master’s in International Policy at Stanford University, specializing in energy, natural resources, and the environment. Calli is also a research fellow with Ecospherics, an advisory firm on environmental and national security issues and has researched Chinese investments in Asia at Stanford. Previously, Calli managed US-China dialogues on climate and energy at the Aspen Institute. Calli received a B.A. from Occidental College in 2016, where she studied Diplomacy and World Affairs and Mandarin Chinese. In her free time, Calli enjoys running, singing karaoke, practicing foreign languages, and playing Euchre, the best Midwestern card game.

Master's in International Policy Class of 2022
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