Roundtable Discussion with Environmental Protection Directors from Yunnan, China

World famous biodiversity hotspot, Yunnan Province in China is home to the Three Parallel Rivers World Heritage Site and one of five pilot provinces in China to experiment with low carbon development models. A delegation of four directors of provincial and municipal environmental authorities in Yunnan province met with UMass Boston faculty at a roundtable discussion convened by the Center for Governance and Sustainability on 29 April 2011 at the Venture Development Center.

Hosted by the International Fund for China's Environment (IFCE), the delegation visited the United States to study low carbon development policy and environmental governance and met with officials and academics at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the World Bank, the World Resources Institute, and the University of Massachusetts Boston.

At UMass Boston, the environmental directors and faculty discussed biodiversity protection, water resources, energy, and environmental governance and explored opportunities for collaboration. Environmental authorities in Yunnan seek to create an innovative policy system for ecological compensation and restoration. They are working on taxes on energy use that will be earmarked for environmental restoration and protection. Professor Robyn Hannigan, chair of the Department of Environmental, Earth, and Ocean Sciences, expressed interest in collaborating in exploring different models for ecosystem banking. A trilateral project between the United States, China, and India emerged as another collaborative opportunity. Professor of Biology Kamaljit Bawa has been working on biodiversity and other environmental issues on the Indian side of the Himalayas where the environmental problems are very similar to those in Yunnan.

Professor Zong-Guo Xia, Vice Provost for Research and Strategic Initiatives, emphasized the opportunity for UMass Boston faculty and students to contribute analytical rigor and innovative ideas as Yunnan province authorities seek to devise contemporary solutions to environmental challenges.

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Participants

CHINESE DELEGATION

Zhou Bo, International Division Director, Yunnan Environmental Protection Department
Wang Jianhua, Director General, Yunnan Environmental Protection Department
Zhang Xiaoliang, Director General, Yuxi Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau
Hao Yukun, Deputy Director, Kunming Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau.

UMASS BOSTON

Kamaljit S. Bawa, Department of Biology
Charles Cnudde, Department of Political Science
Vanessa DiCarlo, Collaborative Institute for Oceans, Climate and Security and Center for Governance and Sustainability
Alexander Gritsinin, Collaborative Institute for Oceans, Climate and Security
Robyn Hannigan, Chair, Department of Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences
Maria Ivanova, McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies and Co-Director, Center for Governance and Sustainability
Rajini Srikanth, English Department and Associate Provost, Faculty Affairs
Sara Svensson, Center for Governance and Sustainability
Rinske Wijtmans, Center for Governance and Sustainability
Zong-Guo Xia, Vice Provost, Research and Strategic Initiatives
Meng Zhou, Department of Environmental, Earth and Ocean Sciences