China 2030/2050: Energy and Environmental Challenges for the Future (Harvard Global Institute Award)

Reconciling Development with Environmental Protection

The Harvard Global Institute (HGI) creates opportunities to solve critical global issues by supporting research and collaboration that is innovative and interdisciplinary. HGI is currently funding this initiative of the Harvard-China Project on Energy, Economy and Environment.

Project Summary

China 2030/2050 is inspired by challenges facing development and environmental protection in China over the medium and long terms, as well as by an appreciation of the benefits of Sino-US scholarly engagement in related fields. The initiative leverages strengths across Harvard into collaborative research with Chinese institutions on the nexus of climate change, air quality, renewable energy, economic development, urban transportation, environmental health, and policy. It involves eleven faculty members from five Schools at Harvard, and approximately a dozen collaborating faculty at nine Chinese universities and research institutes and one in Europe.

Specific research topics include atmospheric transport and chemistry; atmospheric measurement (at two atmospheric observatories); renewable power and grid integration; economic development; environmental health (particularly population health risk of atmospheric particulate matter and ozone exposures); urban transport, land use, air pollution, and health (in the Chinese city of Chengdu); and integrated assessment of economy, energy, emissions, air quality, health, and policy.

The initiative also includes summer programs for Harvard undergraduates in China (a 2-week course in 2017 and 9-week research assistantships in 2018) as well as seminars, public lectures, symposia, film screenings, and other events.

Publications To Date Supported by the Harvard Global Institute

https://chinaproject.harvard.edu/funding-sources/harvard-global-institute​​​​​​​

Partner Affiliations In China

  • Tsinghua University
  • Nanjing University
  • Peking University
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (2 institutes)
  • National Climate Center, China Meteorological Administration
  • Huazhong University of Science & Technology
  • China University of Mining and Technology
  • Northeast Forestry University
  • Xi'an Jiaotong University
  • Tianjin University
  • New York University Shanghai
  • Technical University of Denmark

Harvard Faculty Participants' Affiliations

  • Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
  • Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences
  • Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
  • Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government
  • Harvard Graduate School of Design

Principal Investigators

Michael B. McElroy

Gilbert Butler Professor of Environmental Studies, Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Dale W. Jorgenson

Samuel W. Morris University Professor, Department of Economics, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Executive Director

Chris P. Nielsen

Executive Director, Harvard-China Project on Energy, Economy and Environment, Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science