In his first press conference as premier of China, back in April 2013, Li Keqiang promised to tackle pollution with “an iron fist”, a statement that was met with some degree of optimism. Chinese environmental issues are more immediate and obvious than in other countries, with a huge pollution crisis affecting many cities. But they are also a key carbon emitter, contributing to global warming that affects us all. The central challenge is balancing a growing economy with sustainability; an issue for many, but China’s rapid growth, political history and sheer size make it more than just a simple case study. Recent headlines about a Chinese carbon cap may have been overstated, but for all that China may be the planet’s biggest polluter, it also leads the world on investment in low carbon energy. Ban Ki-Moon has publicly called for China to take an international lead ahead of the climate talks in New York in September. How Li responds to this challenge is to be seen.

Kevin Anderson
Engineer calling for radical emissions cuts

Winnie Byanyima
Pushing gender and justice in the climate debate

Jeremy Farrar
Could he help bring biomedicine to the climate debate?

Van Jones
Painting a future of green jobs

Grassroots activists
Real, not astroturf

Li Keqiang
Premier of the planet’s biggest emitter

Crystal Lameman
First Nations voice in North American environment policy

Melissa Leach
Opening up discourse on sustainable development

Michael Liebreich
Olympian voice for new energy finance

Malini Mehra
Working with the Indian diaspora and more for global corporate responsibility

Kumi Naidoo
Fearless Director of Greenpeace International

Sunita Narain
Indian environmental activist

David Roberts
Covering the climate beat, one PDF at a time

Claudia Salerno
A bloodied hand for climate change

Yeb Saño
Unlikely star of Warsaw talks

Amartya Sen
Indian economist and philosopher

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Championing rights of indigenous peoples

Desmond Tutu
South African social rights activist

Mark Watts
Cities as global leaders

Malala Yousafzai
New youthful voice on climate?
Founded in 1931, the International Council for Science (ICSU) is a non-governmental organization representing a global membership that includes both national scientific bodies (121 National Members representing 141 countries) and International Scientific Unions (30 Members).
Road to Paris is where science, policy and economics meet on our way to the 2015 climate conference in Paris.
Road to Paris is where science, policy and economics meet on our way to the 2015 climate conference in Paris.