China Centre, the University of Melbourne
CENTRAL-LOCAL GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AND CHINA’S CLEAN ENERGY TRANSITION
Dr Jonas Nahm, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
12:00 – 1:00pm, Thursday 26 July
Australian-German Climate Energy College, 187 Grattan St (Building 257), The University of Melbourne
This talk examines prospects for China’s clean energy transition in the context of the current phase of recentralization under Xi Jinping. Perspectives on energy and environmental governance in China frequently ascribe blame for China’s environmental problems to subnational governments’ lax environmental enforcement. Such research implicitly assumes that more central control would lead to better results. Jonas argues that current prospects for centralization alone are unlikely to improve outcomes in every case, as there are significant areas of overlapping interests and similar patterns of behaviour, both positive (enforcement) and negative (shirking), between central and local administrations when it comes to energy and climate policy. Despite efforts to strengthen central government control over the clean energy transition, structural incentives for local governments continue to undermine ambitious plans for decarbonisation.
CLEAN ENERGY RACE OR GLOBAL COLLABORATION: GERMANY, CHINA, AND THE USA
Dr Jonas Nahm, John Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS)
5:30 – 7:00pm, Thursday 26 July
Theatre 1, Old Geology (Building 155), The University of Melbourne
The popular notion of a “Clean Energy Race” has often depicted the success of national wind and solar industries in the global economy as a zero-sum game. The rise of China’s renewable energy sectors in particular has been regarded as a threat to the West, leading to calls for trade barriers from politicians and industry associations alike. Based on extensive qualitative field research, I show that collaboration among wind and solar firms in China and Germany has been critical to the development of renewable energy technologies and the industries that produce them. It is because of — and not despite of — the contributions of Chinese renewable energy firms that vibrant wind and solar sectors have been established and maintained in Germany. This suggests that trade barriers create unnecessary obstacles to such collaboration and have detrimental impact on the development of clean energy technologies critical to combatting climate change.
THE DRIVERS AND EFFECTS OF CHANGING APPETITES IN CHINA
5:30 – 7:00pm, Thursday 2 August
Dr Michael Fabinyi, University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
Theatre 1, Old Geology (Building 155), The University of Melbourne
With the massive expansion of the Chinese economy over the last thirty years, Chinese consumption of natural resources is becoming an increasingly important issue with global implications. In particular, global fisheries are stagnating or in decline. Yet seafood consumption continues to rise, and this is dramatically seen in the case of China, which by 2030 will consume approximately 40% of global food fish. […] In this talk I will discuss: 1.) the historical and social drivers of seafood consumption in China; 2.) the varied outcomes for fishing households and communities that have recently experienced a dramatic surge in seafood exports to China, using case studies of Papua New Guinea (sea cucumbers) and the Philippines (live groupers); and 3.) ways in which governments and civil society organisations are trying to improve governance of this trade.