Analyzing China’s Commitment to Climate Change: A Conversation with Joanna Lewis

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, Dr. Joanna Lewis joins us to discuss China’s commitment to addressing climate change. Dr. Lewis provides an overview of major domestic and international policies that China has implemented to combat climate change, including its dual-carbon goals, newly launched emissions trading scheme, and commitment to end new coal-fired financing abroad. She emphasizes that China is a crucial player not just in international climate negotiations, but also in the global effort to keep warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. Dr. Lewis also assesses China’s role in the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow and discusses how China’s performance impacted international progress in combating climate change and China’s desire to be seen as a global leader on climate issues. Lastly, Dr. Lewis highlights the new joint working group between the U.S. and China as an important step in making meaningful progress on climate change during an era of strategic competition between the two countries.

Dr. Joanna Lewis is the Provost’s Distinguished Associate Professor of Energy and Environment and Director of the Science, Technology and International Affairs Program (STIA) at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. Dr. Lewis has two decades of experience working on international climate and clean energy policy with a focus on China. She is also a faculty affiliate in the China Energy Group at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.