Hopkins at Home: Globalization & Climate Change in the Age of COVID-19

Description

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of global supply chains, as countries around the world have shut their borders and economies have screeched to a halt. Few industries are more globalized than the clean energy sectors that we urgently need to combat climate change, and few rely more strongly on China. China currently makes nearly half of the world's wind turbines, more than two-thirds of solar panels, and nearly 70% of lithium-ion batteries, a critical component of both electric vehicle and on-grid storage. As governments debate aggressive stimulus packages to encourage an economic recovery and announce bold goals to onshore manufacturing of critical technologies, what are the impacts on cleantech industries and our ability to meet global climate targets? Join Jonas Nahm as he reviews past attempts to revive domestic economies through green economic policy strategies and examines their prospects in the context of the current recession.

Please attend the event by joining the webcast on Sept. 15. Join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #HopkinsatHome.

Jonas Nahm is an assistant professor of energy, resources, and environment at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Jonas' research interests focus on the intersection of economic and industrial policy, energy policy, and environmental politics. In particular, he studies the role of the state in processes of industrial restructuring that accompany responses to climate change and clean energy transitions more broadly. His work utilizes clean energy transitions in China, Germany, and the U.S. to engage two debates in comparative political economy: (1) the role of the state in shaping the international division of labor in highly globalized industries, and (2) sources of state capacity in interest group politics during periods of industrial restructuring. In addition to his work on renewable energy industries, Jonas has ongoing research projects on the politics of greening the global auto sector and the subnational determinants of climate policies. Prior to coming to Johns Hopkins, Jonas was a postdoctoral fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. He holds a PhD in political science from MIT and speaks German and Mandarin Chinese.