Johns Hopkins SAIS expert available to discuss China’s energy and environmental policy

EXPERT ADVISORY
 
China frequently ascribes blame for its environmental governance problems to poor policy enforcement by provincial and municipal governments. Yet lax enforcement of central government policies can also be a good thing, according to a new paper by Jonas Nahm, Assistant Professor of Energy, Resources and Environment at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). In the case of renewable energy industries, lax implementation of Beijing’s innovation policies by local governments have corrected some of the weaknesses in the original innovation policy framework.
 
Nahm finds that renewable energy firms in China have indeed utilized central government R&D programs. But in the establishment of unique engineering capabilities in commercialization of new wind and solar technologies, they also relied on manufacturing policies by local governments that defied the central government’s goals. Based on more than 100 executive interviews with 43 Chinese wind and solar firms, Nahm suggests that continued local government support for the manufacturing economy has not undermined central government policies for clean tech innovation, but broadened the range of resources available to entrepreneurial wind and solar firms.
 
The scholar is available to further discuss:

• What are China’s energy and environmental policies under President Xi Jinping?
• What governance reforms and recentralization of policy-making have been instituted under the Xi administration?
• What are the latest technological innovations in China’s wind and solar sectors?
• What is the Made in China 2025 Initiative?

 
Nahm’s research focuses on the political economy of development and industrial upgrading in green industries, the politics of innovation, and the political economy of the energy sector. In addition to China, his research draws on cases in Germany and the United States. Before joining Johns Hopkins SAIS, Nahm was a Postdoctoral Fellow for International and Public Affairs at the Watson Institute at Brown University. He earned a PhD in Political Science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an MA in Political Science and Asia-Pacific Studies from the University of Toronto, and a BA in Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cambridge.
 
Read more:
Exploiting the Implementation Gap: Policy Divergence and Industrial Upgrading in China's Wind and Solar Sectors
 
Central–Local Relations: Recentralization and Environmental Governance in China
 
Media Contact
Stacy A. Anderson
Communications Manager
Johns Hopkins SAIS
202.663.5620 office
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[email protected]
 
About Johns Hopkins SAIS
A division of Johns Hopkins University, the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) is a global institution that offers students an international perspective on today's critical issues. For nearly 75 years, Johns Hopkins SAIS has produced great leaders, thinkers, and practitioners of international relations. Public leaders and private sector executives alike seek the counsel of the faculty, whose ideas and research inform and shape policy. Johns Hopkins SAIS offers a global perspective across three campus locations: Bologna, Italy; Nanjing, China; and Washington, D.C. The school’s interdisciplinary curriculum is strongly rooted in the study of international economics, international relations, and regional studies, preparing students to address multifaceted challenges in the world today.
 
For more information, visit sais-jhu.edu or @SAISHopkins
 
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