Dr. Fan Dai is a nonresident senior fellow at American Progress and the director of the California-China Climate Institute. Her work is focused on international climate change, with a particular focus on China climate change policy. Her research expertise includes market mechanisms for climate change mitigation, climate diplomacy, and governance.
Dr. Dai was appointed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) as special adviser to chair the state’s China Interagency Working Group and served as the liaison on critical economic and environmental initiatives with China. Previously, she served as a senior adviser at the California Environmental Protection Agency and the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, where she provided counsel on the state’s international policy and global climate partnerships. At the California-China Climate Institute, she led several critical research projects on subnational climate policy and long-term planning for carbon neutrality; she also executed Govs. Brown and Gavin Newsom’s (D) successful trip to China as well as other high-level U.S.-China climate dialogues.
Dr. Dai graduated from the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, with a master’s in law, as well as from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry with a Ph.D. in environmental economics and policy.