Synergy Between Biodiversity Conservation, Climate Change, and Health: Pathways for Implementing a Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework in China
Dr. Binbin Li
Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023
12–1 p.m.
Field Auditorium, Grainger Hall
Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability and University Program in Environmental Policy Environmental Institutions Seminar Series
Jointly Sponsored by the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Sanford School of Public Policy
Duke University students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend the first presentation of the Nicholas Institute and UPEP Environmental Institutions Seminar Series for the Spring 2023 semester. Our speaker will be Dr. Binbin Li, assistant professor of environmental sciences of the Environmental Research Center at Duke Kunshan University.
Seminar abstract (also available at event listing here):
Although biodiversity conservation and development are often regarded as having a trade-off relationship, there are regions where they have co-benefits, where conservation through expanding protection and reducing deforestation can not only benefit biodiversity but also reduce climate change's impacts on human society, including health risks. Dr. Li will introduce her work on how the high overlap between areas with biodiversity challenges, those experiencing increasing natural disasters under climate change, and those with high spill-over risks of zoonosis diseases indicate a more sustainable path of development for these regions. This is the key to implementing a post-2020 global biodiversity framework and mainstreaming biodiversity conservation.
China is one of the most biodiverse countries and faces great challenges in balancing biodiversity conservation and development. Dr. Li will introduce how recent environmental policies have developed in China to protect biodiversity and their consequences for local livelihoods and endangered species conservation. An interdisciplinary approach has been used to promote sustainable livelihoods around protected areas to reduce human disturbances, such as livestock grazing, while engaging local communities in conservation through incentives.
About the speaker
Dr. Binbin Li is assistant professor of environmental sciences of the Environmental Research Center at Duke Kunshan University. She holds a secondary appointment with the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. Her research focuses on conservation planning under climate change, endangered and endemic species conservation in China such as giant pandas, priority setting and management of protected areas, and sustainable infrastructure building in the Belt and Road Initiative. She promotes the use of innovative technology, market tools, and policies to solve conservation problems and assist sustainable local community development. Dr. Li has been awarded EC50 by Explorers Club, one of the world’s most inspiring explorers. She is the IUCN Species Survival Commission expert, associate editor of Frontiers of Ecology and Evolution and Integrative Conservation, and serves on the editorial board of Conservation Biology, Global Ecology and Conservation, and Biodiversity Science. Dr. Li is engaged in science communication and nature education. She is a signed nature photographer at Swild in China and directed the documentary “Secret Worlds of Min Mountains-Wanglang.” From 2013-2015, she was on the advisory board for the Disney nature documentary “Born in China.” She is devoted in using photography, social media, drama, and other art formats to promote conservation science in the public.
This is an in-person event with no virtual viewing option.
Part of the UPEP Environmental Institutions Seminar Series, organized by the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability and the University Program in Environmental Policy (UPEP), a doctoral degree program jointly offered by the Nicholas School of the Environment and Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.
This event is aligned with the Duke Climate Commitment, which unites the university’s education, research, operations and public service missions to address the climate crisis. The commitment builds on Duke’s longstanding leadership in climate, energy and sustainability to educate a new generation of climate-fluent innovators and create equitable solutions for all.