EVENTS

About the Speaker

Dr. Avinash Godbole is a Research Fellow at the Indian Council of World Affairs since March 2016. Prior to this he was Research Assistant at IDSA. He was awarded Doctor of Philosophy at CEAS, SIS, JNU. His doctoral thesis is on the Political Economy of China's Environment. He was a Visiting Fox Fellow at the Macmillan Center at Yale in 2007-08. His research interests are in the fields of Chinese Foreign Policy, Environmental Changes in China, Minorities in China, Domestic Politics in China, China's Asia strategy and India-China Relations. He has written extensively on these subjects in academic and media publications.

Abstract

A closer look at China’s environmental picture reveals a contrasting outlook. While China has ambitious targets and plans in place, its megacities in the north face recurring air pollution, especially in winters. At the same time, its rivers in the south are polluted.  The environmental story of contemporary China appears to have entered a loop pattern. Even then, there have been some significant changes underway at the ground level. In the recent past China has achieved many significant landmarks in its environmental journey. China has ambitious targets for renewable energy and emission control. Underlining the domestic plans are its international ambitions of taking global leadership on clean development. This also reflects in its outlook on energy, where the keywords can be diversification and sustainability. This presentation will look at the two issues in close detail.