Speaker: Prof. Yongqin David Chen

Abstract: As the most populous and the third largest country in the world, China is home to over 1.4 billion people and has a vast territory of 9.6 million square kilometers. In the past decade, China has become the second largest economy and largest carbon emitter in the world. Nearly one-fifth of the global population and rapid growth of economy, along with its natural environmental and resource conditions and constraints, have imposed huge pressure on environmental protection and resource management as a long tradition and especially in recent decades. This lecture will first introduce the availabilities and characteristics of natural resources, as well as major environmental problems in China. Then environmental and resource sustainability will be discussed and evaluated from a historical development perspective. Finally, a brief summary and outlook of several key environmental and resource management projects in China will be presented.

About the speaker: Yongqin David Chen is currently the Master of Muse College and a professor of the School of Humanities and Social Science at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and a former Chairman of the Department of Geography and Resource Management at CUHK. He graduated from Sun Yat-sen University with B.S. and M.S. in the mid-1980s and later obtained his Ph.D. from The University of Georgia in the USA. He has published over 130 research papers in international and Chinese journals (including Nature Climate Change, PNAS and other top journals), as well as six book volumes. He has received research awards from the Ministry of Education of China and Chinese Society of Natural Resources, and has been featured in the World’s Top 2% Scientists’ List released by Stanford University. He has been active in serving in various capacities in many universities, professional societies and government advisory committees at local, national, and international levels, including President of the Professional Association for China’s Environment, Vice President of China Environment, Resources and Ecological Conservation Society, Non-Civil Servant member of the Urban Planning Board of Shenzhen, Chairman of Hong Kong Conservation E3 Foundation Ltd., member of the Strategic Advisory Committee, Hong Kong Observatory, etc.