We find ourselves at a remarkable moment in global environmental governance. China actively supports green development on the global stage, while the US under the Trump administration rejects the Paris Agreement and actively opposes the development of renewable energy and electric vehicles. Professor Alex Wang of the UCLA School of Law will introduce his new book, Chinese Global Environmentalism, which examines how China came to embrace green development and how it promotes a developmental form of environmentalism that differs from Western conceptions.

States take the center stage at global climate negotiations, but corporations sit squarely in the crosshairs as contributors to climate change, casualties of the fallout, and indispensable participants in any response. Governments, investors, and publics across Asia-Pacific are increasingly demanding that corporations do more to address the climate crisis.

Rising sea levels due to climate change are affecting the livelihoods of millions of persons in Asia-Pacific. While engineers develop physical adaptations, the UN’s International Law Commission (ICL) has been studying needed adaptations to international legal frameworks in order to protect the status and rights of affected states.

The latest report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms that the damage to Earth’s ecosystems from rising temperatures is mounting far more rapidly than the global community has been able to respond – at least, so far. With a comprehensive international treaty seemingly out of reach, what are other options for mobilizing action?