Every year, the Chinese government handpicks 500 Chinese students overseas who have achieved extraordinary academic merits. Now the 2019 awardees were communicated by the Chinese Scholarship Council. Amongst them is Xiaoxi Wang: In April 2019, he has successfully defended his dissertation on “Understanding Implications of Key Economic Factors for Land Dynamics and Food Systems in a Changing World" at the Humboldt University of Berlin. It received the high score, "magna cum laude", and was supervised by Hermann Lotze-Campen. Now he is Assistant Professor at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China, and guest scientist in PIK´s Research Domain Climate Resilience.
What might tip the balance on climate change? The Martin School at Oxford University regularly awards prizes for the best "sensitive intervention points" for the post-carbon transition. In late May, that prize was given to Andrew McConnell, student assistant in PIK´s Future Lab Public Economics and Climate Finance. His proposal is for central banks (and the European Central Bank in particular) to reduce their valuation of the worth of carbon-intensive assets posted as collateral for credit. The jury called it "unique, well thought out, concise, and practical." More information on the Oxford Martin's programme on the post-carbon transition can be found here.
