SGAIN Talk and ESG Network

About the Event

Join us for an insightful event hosted by Sustainability Spotlight, featuring a keynote address from guest speaker, Dr.Yixian SunLink opens in a new window, who will discuss "China’s Green Soft Power," followed by an introduction to the Earth System Governance NetworkLink opens in a new window.

Keynote address: China’s Green Soft Power

Over the past three decades, global environmental governance has undergone fundamental changes due to power transition in world politics, with emerging economies playing increasingly important roles. One of the most remarkable examples is China – a country that has transformed itself from a major polluter into the world’s powerhouse of green technologies. The country has also made various multilateral and bilateral efforts to lead environmental cooperation. In light of these changes, some scholars believe that China has gradually become a global environmental leader. However, current research in global governance and environmental politics offers very few in-depth and systematic analyses of this shift—particularly lacking are studies on how different actors within China perceive and engage with the country’s changing position as a global environmental leader, and how this role shift influences sustainable transitions in other countries around the world. In this talk, Dr Sun draws on his latest research to introduce the concept of “green soft power” and apply it to the case of China to show how environmental action influences the power of nations and actors in today’s global politics. He will also introduce the newly developed the China Global Environmental Leadership (CGEL) Database created by the SGAIN project, offering an empirical perspective on the evolution and recent trends of China’s green soft power in the 21st century.

About the speaker

Dr. Yixian SunLink opens in a new window is an associate professor in International Development at the University of Bath, United Kingdom. He studies transnational governance, environmental politics and sustainable development with a focus on emerging economies. Currently, he is the principal investigator of the GBP 1.7 million project on sustainability governance of China’s global infrastructure investments (SGAINLink opens in a new window) funded by the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship. He is the author of Certifying China published by the MIT Press in 2022 and has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and chapters in high-impact journals and books including Science, Nature Sustainability, Nature Food, Global Environmental Change, Environmental Politics and Review of International Political Economy. Dr Sun serves as associate editor of Global Environmental Politics and World Development Perspectives. Moreover, he is an adjunct senior research fellow at the Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the National University of Singapore and a member of the Earth System Governance Project’s Scientific Steering Committee.

Event Details

Date: Thursday 29th May 2025

Time: 11:30 - 15:00

Venue: OC0.01

Agenda:

11:30-13:00

Dr. Yixian Sun: China's Green Soft Power

13:00-14:00

Lunch & Networking

14:00-15:00

Introduction to the Earth System Governance Network and developing ideas for research collaboration