Sustainability

ASPI works with policymakers, scientists, economists, business leaders, and experts from other fields to assess the challenges associated with securing food, water, and energy for Asia’s burgeoning population, in a way that conserves environmental resources for the future. This multidisciplinary approach considers the needs of diverse stakeholder groups and recognizes the tradeoffs that must be made to overcome sustainability problems.

Featured Initiatives

High-level Policy Commission on Getting Asia to Net Zero

A high-level and independent commission of Asian leaders to help urgently accelerate the regional transition to net zero emissions.
Rebuilding U.S.-China Climate Cooperation

Seeks to establish a blueprint for post-2020 climate cooperation between the U.S. and China.
Building the Chinese Carbon Market and Its Regional Connections

Works to enhance the regional and global fight against climate change through carbon market maturation and cooperation in Asia.
Toward a Northeast Asia Carbon Market

ASPI initiative to create a roadmap for linking the carbon markets in China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

Reports

U.S. President Joe Biden meets with China's President Xi Jinping during a virtual summit from the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC, November 15, 2021.

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Reflections on China and U.S.-China Relations in 2021

A compendium of 2021 speeches and essays by ASPI President Kevin Rudd on The Avoidable War.

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Catalyzing India’s Climate Ambition

ASPI Senior Fellow Patrick Suckling sets out how the wider international community should sensitively, constructively, and intelligently work with India to catalyze greater climate ambition in the lead-up to COP26 and beyond.

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Understanding American Voter Attitudes Toward U.S.-China Climate Cooperation

For the first time, polls indicate climate change is a top priority for U.S. voters. This joint report analyzes voter attitudes to cooperation with China on climate change.

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ASPI Notes for the Biden Administration

Creative and practical ideas for how the United States might re-engage in the Asia Pacific in the critical first six months of the new administration.

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Nature and Nurture: How the Biden Administration Can Advance Ties With India

Anubhav Gupta provides a blueprint for how the incoming U.S. administration can bolster U.S.-India ties.

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The New Geopolitics of China’s Climate Leadership

China has built up enormous goodwill in recent years for staying the course with the Paris Agreement. This essay outlines why climate leadership must remain an important geopolitical priority for China in the years ahead.

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U.S. and China Climate Goals: Scenarios for 2030 and Mid-Century

This joint report models various 2030 and mid-century emissions scenarios in the U.S. and China.

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China’s Response to Climate Change: A Study in Contrasts and a Policy at a Crossroads

China’s response to climate change is a study in contrasts. This issue paper explains this and highlights a number of key climate-related decisions by the Chinese government in the coming 18-months that will reverberate globally.

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Climate Diplomacy under a New U.S. Administration

The United States is the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter. For that reason, the outcome of the U.S. presidential election in November will have an undeniable impact on the future of the global climate change regime.

Commentary

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ASPI Climate Action Brief: India

Analytical brief on India's climate change targets post-COP26
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ASPI Note: China's Doubling Down on Energy Security May Slow its Climate Progress

What to know about China's 14th Five-Year Plan for a Modern Energy System.
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ASPI Climate Action Brief: Indonesia

Analytical brief on Indonesia's climate change targets post-COP26
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Reflections on China and U.S.-China Relations in 2021

A compendium of 2021 speeches and essays by ASPI President Kevin Rudd on The Avoidable War.
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South Korea's Carbon Market a Model for the Rest of Asia

Alistair Ritchie writes in Nikkei Asia about the emissions trading systems in Asia.
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ASPI Note: Understanding the U.S.-China Climate Declaration

What to know about the U.S.-China joint statement from COP26 on climate cooperation.
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China’s Carbon Market Launch: Foundations, First Impressions and Future

Jackson Ewing, Environmental Defense Fund's Xiaolu Zhao, and SinoCarbon's Zhibin Chen discuss what China's just-launched emissions trading scheme will mean for climate change.
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Developing Effective Benchmark-Based Allocation for Industrial Sectors: The Case of the Korean ETS

This paper studies the most recent phase of the Korean Emissions Trading System and demonstrates how BM-based allocation was successfully implemented within some of the country’s largest and most carbon leakage-exposed industrial sectors.
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Catalyzing India’s Climate Ambition

ASPI Senior Fellow Patrick Suckling sets out how the wider international community should sensitively, constructively, and intelligently work with India to catalyze greater climate ambition in the lead-up to COP26 and beyond.
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China’s National ETS Needs High-Level Political Support to Succeed

Kevin Rudd and Alistair Ritchie write that support would drive the cross-ministry coordination needed to ensure the emissions trading system helps China achieve its climate goals.
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China's Vital Emissions Trading Scheme

Kevin Rudd and Alistair Ritchie write that China's ETS is set to become the world's single most important climate mitigation policy.
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ASPI Notes for the Biden Administration

Creative and practical ideas for how the United States might re-engage in the Asia Pacific in the critical first six months of the new administration.
report

Nature and Nurture: How the Biden Administration Can Advance Ties With India

Anubhav Gupta provides a blueprint for how the incoming U.S. administration can bolster U.S.-India ties.