Outreach
Prof. Junjie Zhang has been actively involved in policy outreach and public service in four areas: environmental policy, green finance, energy transition, and climate change. He has led numerous policy analyses and recommendations for government entities, enterprises, and NGOs. He has also created several programs to enhance financial literacy for environmental civil society organizations and climate literacy for corporations and financial institutions.
Highlights
Climate Finance
Professor Zhang’s team has worked with several Chinese local governments to develop climate financing and investment guidelines concerning classification rules, inclusion thresholds, evaluation standards, and implementation processes. The government clients include Changdao City, Ganzhou City, Kunshan City, Sanmin City, and Shanghai City (Pudong District, North Bund).
In addition, various institutions have commissioned the team to design low-carbon transition strategies for corporations and industries, such as iron and steel (Shanghai Local Financial Bureau), shipping (Energy Foundation China), ICT (Energy Foundation China), US companies in China (US-China Business Council), Red Star Macalline, and ocean carbon dioxide removal (ClimateWorks Foundation).
To ensure China’s net-zero transition is socially balanced, the team has been working on just energy and climate transition, with continuous support from Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. The first project focused on the political and social obstacles, the second project conducted four case studies of energy transformation, and the third (ongoing) project pays attention to the equity issue in transition finance.
Climate Risks
Professor Zhang’s team, in collaboration with a major rural credit union in China, has initiated a research project to gauge the impact of climate change’s physical risks on the banking industry, specifically within the rural and agricultural banking system. The team is focused on assessing the influence of various climate risks, such as heat waves, frost, drought, floods, and wind disasters, on loan quality metrics like default rates and overdue amounts.
In addition, with support from the E Fund, China’s largest fund manager, the team is investigating climate change’s physical and tron firms’ supply chains. Specifically, the team employs causal inference to identify the impacts of climate change on firm values and the risk transmission mechanism along the supply chain, taking advantage of detailed climate change, climate policy, and supply chain information.
ESG
Professor Zhang’s team has contributed to the promotion of ESG in China. In terms of ESG rating, his team has developed an ESG rating framework for China’s state-owned enterprises; his team also proposed an ESG rating framework for small and medium-sized commercial banks. In addition, his team is now leveraging emerging AI technologies to assess the quality of climate-related information disclosures within a substantial volume of unstructured ESG reports.
Regarding ESG investing, he led a team of finance and climate change professionals to develop a climate-friendly index comprising 100 Chinese-listed firms. Those climate-friendly businesses cover carbon emission reduction, carbon sink enhancement, and climate adaptation. The mission of this project is to direct financial flows toward companies providing climate solutions.
Carbon Market
Professor Zhang has been researching China’s carbon market since the late 1990s. His research program has focused on the design of the emission trading system, evaluating its climate and economic consequences, and comparing its performance with the international best practices.
These projects helped rationalize the design of the national carbon market from an economic perspective. Funded by the Energy Foundation China, the team completed a study on China’s top-line carbon market design, providing advice to China’s climate regulators. Recently, the team completed another investigation of the financial characteristics of China’s national carbon market in terms of price discovery, liquidity provision, and risk management. The report provided advice to China’s financial regulators. In addition, with support from the Asian Development Bank, the team completed a report on linking carbon markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
Conservation Finance
The China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED) established a task force on green finance, in which Prof. Junjie Zhang served as a co-chair. The team produced two reports (report 1 and report 2) advising the Chinese government on leveraging financial resources to support biodiversity conservation.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE)’s Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center (FECO) commissioned the ISI team for two reports on the biodiversity conservation financing mechanism and its funding gap. The reports were used to help China prepare for the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15).
Environmental Policy
Professor Zhang’s team has been championing the cause of cost-benefit analysis in Chinese environmental policy. The team has established the Laboratory on Quantitative Environmental Policy Analysis in partnership with the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy under China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE). This collaborative effort has provided guidance to Chinese decision-makers in shaping environmental policies, with notable cases (and clients) including air pollution control strategy (Suzhou City), solid waste management (China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center, MEE), water pollution control (Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, MEE), and environmental credit system (Chinese Research Academy for Environmental Planning, MEE).
Programs
Green Finance Initiative (GFI)
The GFI aims to identify, advance, and communicate the research, policy, and practice in green finance. Xie Zhenhua (China’s Special Envoy on Climate Change) and Liu Mingkang (former President of China’s Banking Regulatory Commission) launched the GFI.
Environmental Policy Lab
Supported by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment’s Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy (PRCEE) and Duke Kunshan University (DKU), the Lab is dedicated to cost-benefit analysis in environmental policymaking.
Blue Pioneers Program (BPP)
Sponsored by the Packard Foundation, Paradise Foundation, and Yintai Foundation, BPP trains China’s next-generation civil society leaders in marine conservation. Above, the King and Queen of Norway and Jack Ma (Founder of Alibaba) were meeting BPP members.
Green Entrepreneur Network (GEN)
Sponsored by the Green Future Fund, the GEN is a corporate executive education program to promote ESG among entrepreneurs. Gao Xiqing, former President of China Investment Corporation, launched GEN in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
Young Energy Observer Program
Sponsored by the Energy Observer affiliated with the Southern Power Grid Company, the program supports college students around China to conduct field studies related to energy every summer.
Green Finance Forum of 60 (GF60)
GF60 is a nonprofit platform registered in Shanghai that convenes international leaders from governments, corporations, financial institutions, and academics to promote responsible investing. Prof. Junjie Zhang serves as its Chief Economist.
Initiative for Sustainable Investment (ISI)
The Initiative for Sustainable Investment (ISI) is a university-wide initiative at Duke Kunshan University (DKU). The mission of the ISI is to advance societal knowledge about sustainable and responsible investing to address critical global environmental challenges through objective, evidence-based research, policy outreach, and executive education.
The ISI has created a Student Fellow Program (SFP) to engage students in real-world research projects. The SFP is designed to involve students with strong interests in the field of sustainable investment and assist them in having the valuable experience to achieve their career goals and academic pursuits. We welcome students from DKU, Duke, and all other universities.
Interested students may contact us at dku_isi@dukekunshan.edu.cn.