Expertise: China

Alexander Fisher

Dr. Alexander “Alex” Fisher is the Program Director of Climate Ambition at ClimateWorks Foundation. Alex is an expert in global and grassroots climate action, climate finance, and energy transition, especially in China, Germany, India, and the European Union. He oversees work at the Regional Action on Climate Change Conference (RACC) and is the liaison person for the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Partnership.

Prior to joining ClimateWorks, Alex was the director for Sino-German Cooperation on Climate Change (SGCCC) at GIZ China. His portfolio included a variety of bilateral projects work in the field of climate change, low carbon development, carbon market mechanism, and non-CO2 emissions. Alex is an advisor for the Climate Governance Special Policy Study Group at the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED). He previously was an advisor on international climate finance and climate initiatives at Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMUV). Alex was also commissioned by the Presidential Office of the Republic of Korea to help set up an international climate organization in Seoul.

Alex received his PhD in Economics at the Viadrina in Frankfurt and worked at the European University Viadrina in academic teaching and economic research. He has multiple publications in the field of macroeconomics.

Charles McElwee

Charlie McElwee is the Vice President of Programs at ClimateWorks Foundation. At ClimateWorks he helps direct funding to support public policies that prevent dangerous climate change and promote prosperity in the geographic regions that have the greatest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. McElwee practiced environmental and energy law for over 25 years at an international law firm, including five years in Shanghai. He developed an expertise in Chinese environmental and energy law and policy and served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Shanghai Jiaotong University’s School of Law. He won the President’s Prize, the University’s highest award, for extraordinary contributions to the University, and was awarded the Shanghai Municipal Government’s Magnolia Award, the highest honor the city bestows upon foreigners. He is a board member of the International Council on Clean Transportation, the Climate and Land Use Alliance, and serves on the China Advisory Board of the Environmental Defense Fund. His book, Environmental Law in China, was published by Oxford University Press in 2011.

Xiaohua Zhang

Xiaohua is the Senior Director of ClimateWorks’ China Program where he manages the overall operation of the Program and our direct grantmaking to support climate action in China.

Prior to joining ClimateWorks Foundation, he was the senior policy advisor on climate action and cooperation in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, headed the International Cooperation Department of China’s National Centre for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation and served as program officer of UNFCCC secretariat. He started his career as the assistant researcher in Tsinghua University.

He has a Ph.D in nuclear engineering from Tsinghua University.