Joanna Lewis
Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service
Joanna Lewis is an associate professor in the Science, Technology and International Affairs Program in the School of Foreign Service. She joined the Georgetown faculty in 2008. She is a member of the faculty advisory committees for the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues and the Georgetown Environment Initiative, and serves as convener of the Georgetown U.S.-China Climate Research Dialogue.
Major international activities:
- P.I. of a National Science Foundation-funded project on International Partnerships and Technological Leapfrogging in China's Clean Energy Sector
- Faculty research affiliate in the China Energy Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
- Author of Green Innovation in China: China's Wind Power Industry and the Global Transition to a Low-Carbon Economy (2013) and lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report
Featured in:
Participating in:
April 9, 2025
News: How China’s Industrial Policy Really Works
In this interview with Heatmap News' Shift Key podcast, Joanna Lewis discusses China's energy and technology policies and how they have been implemented to support domestic industry.
February 27, 2025
News: How Trump Is Trying to Undo the Inflation Reduction Act
November 14, 2024
News: Trump May Cede Global Climate Leadership to China
November 11, 2024
News: Trump’s Shadow Looms at Climate Summit: What COP29 Could Deliver
November 7, 2024
News: Faculty Spotlight: An Interview with Joanna Lewis
The initiative sat down with Joanna Lewis to reflect on her career and research on China, climate cooperation, and clean energy supply chains.
October 9, 2024
News: Opportunities for U.S.-China Engagement on Development Finance for Overseas Renewable Energy
In this article for Energy and Climate Management, Joanna Lewis presents a potential set of opportunities that exist for the United States and China to engage on overseas renewable energy development finance.
September 18, 2024
News: The China-U.S. Green Energy Race and Its Security Implications
In this recorded conversation with Network 20/20, Joanna Lewis discusses China's green energy sector, climate policies in the United States and China, and the security implications of the U.S.-China green energy race.
September 3, 2024
News: Biden’s Top Climate Negotiator to Visit China This Week
September 3, 2024
News: 5 Things to Know About Podesta’s China Trip
August 30, 2024
News: U.S. Urged to Partake in China's Clean Energy Efforts
August 28, 2024
News: Podesta Heads to China for New Round of Climate Talks
July 1, 2024
News: The Politics of China's Just Transition and the Shift Away From Coal
In this article for Energy Research & Social Science, Joanna Lewis examines China's policies and strategies to address the economic and social challenges caused by the coal transition.
May 8, 2024
News: Podesta's Climate Gambit with China
November 17, 2023
News: China, U.S. Can Clear the Air Through Climate Change Cooperation
November 15, 2023
News: U.S., China Advance Climate Cooperation Following California Talks
November 14, 2023
News: Top Emitters Vow New Climate Action in U.S.-China Breakthrough
November 9, 2023
News: U.S. and China Inch Closer on Climate Ahead of COP28 Summit
September 28, 2023
News: An Experiment in Green Industrial Policy
July 13, 2023
News: China, U.S. Set for 'In Depth' Talks on Climate
December 22, 2022
News: China Watcher 2023 Predictions: Revving up for Rabbit Year
November 21, 2022
News: Where U.S.-China Competition Leaves Climate Change
November 6, 2022
News: U.S. China Global Influence Battle Take Center Stage at COP27
September 15, 2022
News: Risks of Decoupling from China on Low-Carbon Technologies
In this paper for Science, Joanna Lewis analyzes the national security and economic risks of decoupling from China on green technologies.
October 26, 2021
News: COP26 and China’s Global Climate Agenda
In this China Global podcast interview, Bonnie Glaser speaks with Joanna Lewis about China’s prospects at COP26 and the country’s broader climate agenda.
May 6, 2021
News: Assessing China’s Energy and Climate Goals
This report written by Joanna Lewis and Laura Edwards for the Center for American Progress analyzes China’s latest energy and climate goals.
April 22, 2021
News: Does the U.S.-China Climate Statement Mean Real Cooperation Ahead?
This article written by Joanna Lewis was featured in the Washington Post. This work is partially based on research from the initiative’s U.S.-China Research Group on Climate Change.
February 23, 2021
News: The U.S. Is Back in Paris. Will It Regain Its Role as Climate Leader?
In this podcast interview by the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, U.S.-China Research Group on Climate Change convener Joanna Lewis discusses rejoining the Paris Climate agreement, the global hierarchy of climate leadership, and how U.S.-China…
February 1, 2021
News: The Biden Administration Can Mobilize Greater Climate Action With China
This blog post written by Joanna Lewis, Nate Hultman, and Han Chen was featured on the U.S. International Climate Agenda Blog. This work is partially based on research from the initiative’s U.S.-China Research Group on Climate Change.
September 29, 2020
News: China Announced New Climate Goals. But it Can’t Quit Coal Just Yet.
September 18, 2020
News: A Renewed Agenda for Green Technology and Development
In this article for the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Joanna Lewis argues for a new bilateral agenda on U.S.-China green technology and development.
September 1, 2020
News: Toward a New Era of U.S. Engagement with China on Climate Change
This article, written by Joanna Lewis, was published by the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. This work is partially based on research from the initiative’s U.S.-China Research Group on Climate Change.
June 7, 2019
News: China’s Capabilities and Ambitions in Clean Energy Technologies
This testimony was published by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission following Joanna Lewis’s presentation at the commission’s hearing on “Technology, Trade, and Military-Civil Fusion: China’s Pursuit of Artificial Intelligence, New…
May 23, 2019
News: Clean Energy in Asia: Challenges and Opportunities for the United States
This testimony was published by the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations following Joanna Lewis’s presentation before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity…
April 4, 2023
Book Launch: Cooperating for the Climate Event
Join us for a discussion of the timely new book Cooperating for the Climate: Learning from International Partnerships in China's Clean Energy Sector (2023). Drawing on decades of work in clean energy technology and climate policy and hundreds of…
October 20, 2021
U.S.-China Engagement on Climate Change: Opportunities, Obstacles, and Best Practice Event
In recent years, both China and the United States have witnessed devastating climate events, from raging fires in the American West and hurricanes in the American South, to record flooding and typhoons in China. As the largest economies in the world…
January 8, 2018
Understanding the Chinese Carbon Market Proposal Event
On Monday, January 8, 2018, Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and Georgetown University's Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues held a lunchtime talk on "Understanding the Chinese Carbon Market…
Faculty Spotlight: An Interview with Joanna Lewis Feature
Witnessing China’s Clean Energy Transition
Throughout her career, Lewis has worked for a number of governmental and non-governmental organizations, including the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the Asia Society, and the White House Council on…
Professor Joanna Lewis, Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service | November 23, 2016
It is in the U.S. Interest to Continue Cooperating with China on Clean Energy and Climate Change Response
The United States and China have been cooperating on climate change and clean energy for several decades. Since 2009 this cooperation has been greatly enhanced and expanded, resulting in thousands of people from both countries working together to do…
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service Georgetown Unit
The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service was founded in 1919 as the first school of international affairs in the United States. It offers a range of undergraduate and graduate programs in Washington, D.C., and through Georgetown's campus in…
Main Campus Georgetown Unit
The Main Campus is the administrative center of Georgetown University and home to six of its schools: the College of Arts & Sciences, the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, the McDonough School of Business, the McCourt School of Public…
Science, Technology and International Affairs Program Georgetown Unit
The Science, Technology and International Affairs program aims to equip students with the tools needed to understand the complex problems at the intersection of scientific and technical issues and international affairs. The major combines work in the…
U.S.-China Engagement on Climate Change: Opportunities, Obstacles, and Best Practice Video
In recent years, both China and the United States have witnessed devastating climate events, from raging fires in the American West and hurricanes in the American South, to record flooding and typhoons in China. As the largest economies in the world…
Research Dialogue on Climate Change Video
In the years to come, Georgetown’s Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues will address opportunities for climate change cooperation through research, publications and events that engage faculty, students, and leading stakeholders in both…