SGAIN Project

A special thank you to our team members in Pakistan for their hospitality.
We look forward to publishing more outputs shortly. Follow our page and website for further updates!

Dr Sun also attended important bilateral meetings with key government departments, think tanks, and Chinese companies and financial institutions. These dialogues helped to open new avenues for our project's research and policy engagement.

On September 18th, he attended and spoke at the High-level Conference on Green Industrialization under CPEC 2.0 on China's enabling role in supporting Pakistan's green transition. We are grateful to the Sustainable Development Policy (SDPI) for hosting this.

We are excited to share that in September, Project PI Dr Yixian Sun visited Islamabad to advance dialogue on greening the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

We are excited to build on these insights as part of SGAIN’s broader research agenda on China’s overseas energy investments, and we look forward to sharing further analysis and recommendations in the coming months.

You can read more about our fieldwork here: sgain.org/blogs

Over the course of two weeks, our team engaged with local villagers, fishers, community leaders, journalists, and project stakeholders. The research explored themes of employment, community participation, environmental impacts, compensation mechanisms, and local perceptions of Chinese EPCs.

In late July, team member Yuen Gu conducted field research with the UGM team in Indonesia to study the impacts of large-scale renewable energy projects contracted to Chinese companies. The fieldwork focused on two flagship sites: Karawang 100MW Solar Park, and Cirata 145 MW Floating Solar Plant.

Our project team will support the organisation of this important conference, and we look forward to welcoming our collaborators from across the globe.

At the TC/ESG conference, the @esgproject.bsky.social announced next year’s annual conference, to be hosted by the University of Bath with Dr Yixian Sun as the conference chair.

He also joined a workshop organised by E3G and the South African Institute of International Affairs to discuss the role of China in South Africa’s energy and economic transition.

We were pleased to have this opportunity to engage with many colleagues in Africa and explore new collaborations.

Between 15-23 August @yixiansun.bsky.social had a productive visit in South Africa.
In Johannesburg, Yixian attended the Transformations Community/Earth System Governance Conference, where he presented our CGEL database, as well as a book chapter on the future of the Sustainable Development Goals.

With cross-references to related terms in the entries, this book will be a highly valuable resource for students and practitioners engaged with the SDGs and sustainable development more broadly.

SGAIN team member Yuen Gu also contributed to an entry on climate finance with Yixian.

This book aims to provide an accessible overview of the essential terms and concepts related to the global plan to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

Essential Concepts for Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals This book provides a highly accessible and user-friendly overview of the essential concepts and terms related to the current global endeavour to implement the

We are pleased to share that last month, the ‘Essential Concepts for Implementing the Sustainable Development Goals’ was published, co-edited by SGAIN’s PI Dr Yixian Sun, alongside lead academics Frank Biermann, Thomas Hickmann, Yi hyun Kang, and Carole-Anne Senit.

It was great to gather all of our team members together in person, and we look forward to sharing more research soon!

On the 27th, the Bath Social and Development Research Group led a facilitated session, introducing Qualitiative Impact Protocol, as well as Casual Mapping, opening up conversations on how to apply new methods to SGAIN research across the globe.

Across two days at the end of June, SGAIN team members met at Bath University to discuss their work over the last year, and plan future collaboration. Members from Bath, Indonesia, Bangladesh, China, and Pakistan presented their research, before brainstorming how to enhance cross-country learning.

We thank all participants for joining us and look forward to continuing these crucial conversations and strengthening partnerships with our participants. Keep an eye out on our page and website for our post-conference publications in the coming months, as well as more exciting research from SGAIN.

Through keynote speeches, roundtable discussions, and a productive breakout session, we explored China’s increasingly important role in global environmental governance, and how to enhance international cooperation to accelerate sustainability transition around the world

On 24-25 June 2025, we were honoured to host to the Conference on China and Global Sustainability Transition, with over 60 expert attendees from more than 15 countries coming to our historic city of Bath.

The Bath Conference on China & Global Sustainability Transition is underway. Hosted by the University, the conference brings over 60 experts from more than 15 countries to explore how China can play a pivotal role in addressing the global sustainability transition.

bit.ly/4kM0zdU

Never have these discussions and partnerships been so crucial. We look forward to welcoming our participants in our beautiful city and having insightful conversation!

Our programme will include keynote speeches from Kate Logan, Erik Solheim, Katherine Morton and Thomas Hale, as well as roundtable discussions on topics ranging from international environmental cooperation under Trump 2.0, to China’s overseas energy investments and governance of critical minerals.

Over the next one and half days (24/25th June), Bath will be host to a milestone event, the Conference on China and Global Sustainability Transition, held by the SGAIN Project from the University of Bath.

Bringing together leading experts on China and the environment from varying backgrounds, sectors and world regions, we hope this event will host thoughtful discussions on China's role in global sustainability governance, and chart collaborative paths forward to accelerate net zero transition.

Indicators of Global Climate Change 2024: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence Abstract. In a rapidly changing climate, evidence-based decision-making benefits from up-to-date and timely information. Here we compile monitoring datasets (published at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenod...

This important event is taking place just as scientists warn that we only have three years to limit global warming to 1.5C: essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/...

In just four days, we will welcome over fifty participants to Bath, England for the Conference on China and Global Sustainability Transition, organised by our team with the support of the @bath-iscc.bsky.social and @dialogueearth.bsky.social

This is an exciting event, consisting of keynote speakers, several thematic roundtables on China’s changing influence on global sustainability governance, and interactive group discussions to gather opinions from all participants. We look forward to welcoming participants in just 3 weeks' time!

Later this month, the Conference on China and Global Sustainability Transition will take place in Bath, in partnership with the @bath-iscc.bsky.social and @dialogueearth.bsky.social. We are pleased to now share our official brochure, including a full programme of events.

In the future, SGAIN looks forward to more opportunities to engage with Chinese researchers and policy practitioners.