Can China's nearly 300 cross-border environmental initatives under its leadership support global climate leadership?
Coverage of the CGEL Database in Linahe Zaobao, 2026
22 August 2026
As the United States further shrinks its participation in global climate governance, China’s global environmental governance footprint continues to expand. A recent study indicates that since 2000, China has led at least 291 cross-border environmental governance initiatives, with information sharing being the most common and direct funding being the least frequent. However, the actual impact of these initiatives remains to be seen.
This study, published in June this year by Professor Sun Yixian, Chair Professor of Sustainable Governance in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath, and his team, is believed to be the first report to systematically review China’s cross-border environmental initiatives.