Video Messages for Article Call 2020 ⑥

Date：2020-07-24


Wang Shouyang

Dean, School of Economics and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Climate economics is an important research focus at the School of Economics and Management, in which we have gathered many well-known scholars from both at home and abroad. The School has also participated in several sessions of the United Nations Global Climate Conference. Our  policy research reports are highly valued by Party and State leaders. In addition, we have published several influential academic papers in Nature and Science.

We are highly honored to participate in the Climate Investment and Finance Article Call, and are willing to make our due contribution to the development of a green economy and coping with the challenges brought about by global climate change.

Lan Hong

Deputy Director, Ecological Finance Research Center, Renmin University of China

Climate investment and finance serves as an important part in green finance. The School of Environment and Natural Resources at Renmin University of China has carried out a series of theoretical studies and practical explorations on climate investment and financing powered by green finance. In the course of our efforts, we have designed several schemes to inform financing of and investments in energy conservation, emissions reduction, and climate change adaptation projects by closely integrating climate investment and financing with the development of green finance pilot zones, thus guiding financial institutions in playing a major role in climate investment and financing. We have also explored several sustainable models for climate investment and financing which can be widely promoted. 

I hope that young scholars will actively participate in and contribute towards research on climate investment and financing. I wish this event every success.

Zeng Xuelan

Director, Guangdong Research Center for Climate Change, Sun Yat-sen University

Financing is one of the most means for responding to climate change. In this respect, China has made several effective attempts, while Guangdong Province has also made great efforts to promote the development of climate investment and finance systems, for instance carbon pricing mechanisms, carbon finance, and so on.

Let us share our research and practical experiences in climate investment and finance through this article call, and jointly contribute towards global climate change response and low-carbon development.


Wang Yao
Director General, International Institute of Green Finance, Central University of Finance and Economics; Standing Committee Member, CIFA
As we all know, climate change represents one of the most important risks facing the sustainable development of the human race. Climate change response requires a huge amount of capital, making climate investment and financing a core issue in this respect.

My focus is generally on the application of climate standards, climate policies, and financial instruments, as well as relevant academic research. Our institute has published the China Climate Financing Report each year since 2011, along with a large number of academic papers related to climate financing.

I think this article call represents a very good opportunity. And I hope that all present will actively participate in this event, and that more young scholars will produce papers on climate investment and financing.


Philipp Aerni
Director, Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, University of Zurich
Since 2013, I am heading the Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at the University of Zurich. Our center is involved in many climate-related initiatives, concerning research, teaching and outreach at the University of Zurich, as well as ETH, Zurich. We also follow closely the developments in China because we believe that your country pursues quite innovative and effective approaches in coping with climate change.

In this context, we also organized a workshop with NDRC at the end of 2017 on Swiss-China collaboration on climate finance. In 2019 we also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Zhejiang University on sustainable finance and business, and I am certainly familiar with the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Switzerland and China in 2019, since I was also part of the external working group of our foreign minister to develop a new foreign policy strategy.

I very much believe that this collaboration will be very fruitful, and I am very honored that I was asked to be part of this international article call on climate finance and investment, and I am also looking forward to attend the conference in Spring 2021, the forum on climate investment and finance to take place in China. Generally, I look forward to this collaboration and hope to see you soon. 

Qi Ye

Director, Institute for Public Policy, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

It may seem obvious that tackling climate change requires a great amount of capital. In fact, however, this is not as clear from an academic perspective. For example, why do we need so much capital? How much capital do we need? How do we raise the capital? How do we use the capital? What about the areas of priority? In fact, much research is required to address these questions.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is helping the Hong Kong SAR Government build a green financial center in Hong Kong to support the green development of the Bay Area. Of course, we know that the most important aspect of green development in the Bay Area is to deal with climate change, including both climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation. These issues should be a focus of research on climate finance, climate investment and financing. At the global level, such research currently involves only superficial issues. Hence, we encourage young scholars to participate in these research efforts. Apart from urgent issues regarding actual applications, I think there are also interesting theoretical questions that need to be studied. Deeper research on theoretical and practical issues in the future presents both a huge challenge and an opportunity for our younger scholars.

We hope that more young scholars will participate actively in the Climate Investment and Finance Article Call. I am looking forward to your excellent papers.