China is at an environmental tipping point. Economic growth in China has been at a breakneck speed for 40 years, lifting millions of Chinese out of poverty and urbanizing the country faster than any other in the world. But this growth has come at a cost. Smoggy skies, black rivers, and contaminated soil that threaten economic and human health in China. To slow down the crippling air pollution from coal-fired power plants, the Chinese leadership kicked off a green energy revolution in the early 2000s. In 2014, following two years of major smog problems, the Chinese government declared a war on pollution. That same year, presidents Xi and Obama signed the historic US-China Climate Change Agreement, which paved the path for the global Paris Climate Agreement. At this talk, Dr. Jennifer Turner, Director of the Wilson Center’s China Environment Forum, will share stories on the encouraging trends and fault lines in China’s efforts to control pollution.
