On 2-4 August 2019, the 8th Congress of the East Asian Association of Environmental and Resource Economics (EAAERE) was successfully held in Beijing, China. The Congress is one of the biggest gathering of researchers working towards green transition in Asia this year, and attracted more than 200 participants from about 90 academic organizations.

The EAAERE is an international association dedicated to encourage communications between academic and policy ideas, as well as other professional activities that are of interdisciplinary nature relating to the economics and management of the environment and natural resources in Asia, particularly in East Asia.

The Congress is co-hosted by College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University and Chinese Association of Environmental and Resources Economists with support from three co-organizers, Monsoon Asia Integrated Research for Sustainability-Future Earth at Peking University, School of Environment and Natural Resources-Renmin University of China and Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning-Ministry of Environment and Ecology.

The theme of the 8th Congress of the EAAERE is “Green Transition:Towards a Sustainable Future” and it reflects comprehensive elements and perspectives, including climate and global change, environmental health, urban and regional sustainable development, ecosystem and resource management, green growth and transition, valuation, cost-benefit analysis, policy instruments and governance, integrated assessment of energy-environment-economy. Through plenary session with three keynote speeches and 25 parallel sessions, the congress provides a platform for scholars of environmental and resource economics to exchange and stimulate innovative research ideas and opportunities for members to present their research findings.

Dr. Lucas Bretschger, Professor of Economics/Resource Economics at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich (Switzerland), made a keynote speech on climate policy and economic growth. Professor Bretschger presented his models research results to response to a widespread concern that stringent climate policies decrease the growth rate of an economy. Dr. Dale Whittington, Professor from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA) and the Global Research Institute at the University of Manchester (UK), presented his case study focusing on sanitation policy, where he stressed the importance of interdisciplinary communication between the proponents and “evidence-based policy”. Dr. Jinnan Wang, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering and the President of Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning introduced the China Gross Economic-Ecological Product Accounting (GEEP) towards ecological civilization. The GEEP provides a new economic and eco-environmental accounting approaches  and has been applied in practice in China.

Dr. Shiqiu Zhang, Professor from Peking University, the President of EAAERE and Chair of the local organization committee announced the completion of the transition of the EAAERE to Asian Association of Environmental and Resource Economics during the Congress. With a broader coverage in terms of geography and more active community, the Association and its congress will keep dedicating to encouraging communication of academic and policy ideas that are of an interdisciplinary nature relating to the economics and management of the environment and natural resources in Asia.

At the closing of the congress, Professor Zhang made a final announcement of the new president being elected for EAAERE, now the Asian Association of Environmental and Resource Economics. Dr. Jong Ho Hong, Professor of Seoul National University will be serving as the 6th President of the Association during the period of 2019-2021.