Alex L. Wang

Alex L. Wang is a Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Law, holding the Walter and Shirley Wang Chair in U.S.-China Relations and Communications. He serves as Faculty Co-Director of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and actively shapes U.S.-China environmental policy discourse through research and institutional leadership.

His academic credentials include:

• B.S. in Biology from Duke University (1993)
• J.D. from New York University (2000)

Professor Wang's research interrogates Chinese environmental governance through legal and political lenses, emphasizing climate policy implementation, bureaucratic dynamics, and transnational cooperation. His work reveals how symbolic reforms intersect with practical enforcement challenges in China's environmental legal system, while examining critical issues like public interest litigation, state-owned enterprise accountability, and information transparency. This scholarship bridges comparative law, political science, and environmental policy analysis with empirical rigor.

His publication trajectory demonstrates escalating focus on geopolitical dimensions of climate action, particularly U.S.-China technological interdependence and decoupling risks in clean energy sectors. Recent works analyze mistrust dynamics in bilateral climate cooperation and China's evolving role in global environmental governance frameworks, reflecting urgent contemporary policy dilemmas.

No specific scientific awards are documented in the provided materials.

While doctoral students aren't listed, Professor Wang's advisory roles include Co-Chairing the Faculty Advisory Committee for the California-China Climate Institute and board membership at the Environmental Law Institute. His NRDC background indicates extensive grant-funded project development, though specific grants aren't enumerated.

He leads the Emmett Institute's climate initiatives while collaborating with the California-China Climate Institute, focusing on practical policy solutions for U.S.-China environmental challenges. His prior NRDC work established foundational partnerships with Chinese governmental and civil society actors to strengthen environmental legal frameworks and public participation mechanisms.