Elizabeth Economy - China's Environmental Challenge

China is facing an environmental crisis. Five of the world's ten most polluted cities are in China. The country is one-quarter desert and the desert is expanding at a rate of 1900 square miles annually. And growing water scarcity is spreading throughout China's north and west. As serious as the environmental problems may be, equally challenging are the issues such problems raise for continued economic growth, public health and social stability. Beijing is moving aggressively to tackle the full range of environmental problems confronting the country, particularly as the 2008 Olympics are spotlighting the regime's environmental efforts. How effective are China's leaders likely to be in implementing their environmental protection policies? What is the role of China's increasingly active environmental NGO sector? Multinationals? What is the impact on the global environment? Dr. Elizabeth Economy is the C.V. Starr senior fellow and director of Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Her areas of expertise include Chinese domestic and foreign policy, Sino-U.S. relations, and global environmental issues. Dr. Economy has published widely on both Chinese domestic and foreign policy. Her most recent book, The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge to China’s Future was named one of the top ten books of 2004 by the Globalist and won the International Convention on Asia Scholars Award for the best social sciences book published on Asia in 2003 or 2004. She also co-edited China Joins the World: Progress and Prospects and The Internationalization of Environmental Protection. She has published articles in foreign policy and scholarly journals including Foreign Affairs, Harvard Asia Quarterly, Survival, and Current History, among many others. Dr. Economy is a frequent guest on nationally broadcast radio and television programs, has testified before Congress on numerous occasions, and regularly speaks at international conferences. She has taught at Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Washington. Dr. Economy received her PhD from the University of Michigan, her AM from Stanford University and her BA from Swarthmore College.

Google Video | April 27, 2007

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