Course Overview

Course Title: Moving towards low carbon transition with SDGs

Relevant SDGs: SDG7 Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG11 Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG12 Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG13 Climate Action

Credit(s): 1

Course Description:

Aiming to spread the knowledge of low carbon transition of socioeconomic systems along with the associated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations, and to evoke the interest in international governance of low carbon transition that promotes exchanges between different backgrounds, this course provides the international audience a perspective via the lens of SDGs, looking into low carbon development. The UN SDGs cover the societal, economic, and environmental challenges facing the world. 

Specifically, this course pays attention to the SDGs closely related to low carbon development. Besides SDG 13 Climate Action, the following SDGs are also included: 1) for energy sector, SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy, 2) for industrial innovation and green development, SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; 3) for buildings and transportation sectors, SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities; and 4) for society, SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production. 

For each of these SDGs, this course will introduce the basics, review the development status of relevant works in different countries or regions, elaborate on case studies, and discuss the potential challenges. The students are expected to master the definitions of low carbon SDGs, gain an understanding of the works carried out by developed and developing economies in the arena of low carbon transition, and develop analytical skills under a multi-faceted SDG framework. Also, the students are encouraged to brainstorm solutions that will help realize the low carbon SDGs with their own expertise.  

Academic Team

PI:

• Yuquan Zhang, Associate Professor, China-UK Low Carbon College, yqwzhang@sjtu.edu.cn

Collaborators:

• Brendan F.D. Barrett, Professor, Osaka University, Center for Global Initiatives,  brendan.barrett.cgin@osaka-u.ac.jp 
• Uwe Schneider, Professor, University of Hamburg, uwe.schneider@uni-hamburg.de 

What skills will students get?

1. Master the definitions of low carbon SDGs, increase the awareness of global challenges within the context of low carbon transition. 
2. Gain an updated understanding of works carried out by developed and developing economies in the arena of low carbon SDGs. 
3. Analyze SDG issues within the context of low carbon development, from multiple perspectives of social, economic, and environmental dimensions. 
4. Communicate and collaborate with students from different majors, cultural backgrounds, etc., via working together on a course report. 
5. Develop and/or improve communication skills with confidence in a potentially challenging environment. 

Mode of Teaching

Lecture, Group Discussion

Grading

1. Quiz (each participant): 40%; 
2. Group presentation (each group): 10%; 
3. Final program report (each group): 50%. 

Course-specific Restrictions

Junior/Senior undergraduates and Graduates

Class Schedule

Instructors

Yuquan Zhang

Yuquan Zhang, associate professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s China-UK Low Carbon College. He obtained his PhD in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University in the United States (2011), and his B.S. in Resources Science and Engineering from Beijing Normal University in China (2007). Prior to joining SJTU in 2015, he worked as a research economist at the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) in the States and thereafter as a research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) in Austria. His research focuses on climate change impacts, mitigation and adaptation, and he has demonstrated experience in GAMS programming. Besides teaching and research, he serves as an associate deputy editor of Climatic Change and a youth editorial board member of Carbon Neutrality. He also serves on the committees of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and co-governance of pollution reduction and carbon mitigation under the Chinese Society for Environmental Sciences. As of 2024, he published 20+ journal articles, 6 book chapters, and created 7 software copyright works. 

Brendan F.D. Barrett

Brendan F.D. Barrett is a professor at the Osaka University Center for Global Initiatives and an adjunct professor at RMIT University School of Media and Communications.His core areas of expertise of include ethical cities, urban transitions, climate change,sustainability science, documentary filmmaking and science/research communication. His early career research profile mainly related to comparative environmental policy, environmental impact assessment,Local Agenda 21 in Japan and the UK, and ecological modernization. Prior to joining Osaka University in 2018, he was based at RMIT University where he coordinated the Masters in International Environmental Management and was lead researcher for the UN Global Compact Cities Programme.Brendan worked with the United Nations in Japan between 1995 and 2015, with the UN Environment Programme and the United Nations University (UNU). In the latter, he was engaged as a research fellow in 1997, before becoming head of the UNU Media Studio/Online Learning in 2002 and then the Head of Communications in 2010.   

Uwe Schneider

Prof. Dr. Uwe A. Schneider is an agricultural and resource economist with a strong background in agricultural science. His research interests relate to land use externalities regarding climate, water, soils, and nature reserves; impacts of land scarcity on food, biomass, timber, and species protection potentials; and market and welfare effects of environmental policies related to land use. Uwe has a long expertise in mathematical programming with General Algebraic Modelling System (GAMS) and developed, coordinated, and supervised several large-scale optimization models of various scopes in the realm of agriculture, forestry, bioenergy, and fisheries.

Since 2002, Uwe works at Hamburg University where he teaches courses on mathematical programming, dynamic optimization, agriculture and environment, GAMS, and the forest and agricultural sector modeling. He is the principle developer of several land use optimization models and most of his current research uses these models or contributes to their development. Uwe was a contributing author to the IPCC's fourth assessment report. He serves as regular reviewer for a wide variety of academic journals and research funding proposals and he is actively engaged in graduate education programs, i.e. the International Max-Planck Research School on Earth system Modeling and the School of Integrated Climate System Science.

Course Contact

Yuquan Zhang, yqwzhang@sjtu.edu.cn