Binbin Wang is a research professor at Peking University and founder of the Climate Future Global Innovation Lab (C Force Lab) — a thought-and-action laboratory that cultivates 3C Leadership (curiosity, courage, compassion) as the foundation for civilisational transformation. Through the Lab, she advances “Civilisation-based Solutions” (CbS), a new paradigm for global governance that moves beyond technocratic fixes to embrace civilisational diversity — anchored in the conviction that systemic change begins with inner transformation.
Her engagement with climate governance began in 2009, working on the frontlines — from behaviour change to policy advocacy, from grassroots adaptation to international negotiations. That trajectory, from practice to theory, culminated in the CbS framework she now advances.
Her work operates at two levels simultaneously. Internationally, she initiated the “Ancient Wisdom for Modern Challenges” Global Dialogue at the United Nations Office at Geneva in October 2025 to endorse the value of living indigenous wisdom and local knowledge in addressing climate challenges. Her CbS framework, first articulated in a 2026 joint publication with Yale scholars Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, offers a systematic critique of instrumental rationality and introduces civilisational diversity as a legitimate foundation for climate action. Domestically, she operationalises this paradigm through synergistic governance pathways that bridge climate action with gender equality, biodiversity, food systems and rural revitalisation – and through direct policy influence, with submissions adopted by the State Council and other senior policymakers.
Her career spans journalism, international development and high-level diplomacy — including roles as Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General’s Office on South-South climate cooperation, Executive Secretary of the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate, and China Climate Lead with Oxfam. She is a Yale World Fellow (2023), a World Bank Outstanding Woman in East Asia and the Pacific (2023), and the first Chinese author to publish an English monograph on China’s climate governance transition with Springer Nature. She co-authored the bestselling The Choices We Make while translating Christiana Figueres’ The Future We Choose into Chinese. The National Geographic Society recognised her relentless exploration with its 2026 Wayfinder Award. She holds a PhD in climate communication from Renmin University and was a postdoctoral fellow at Peking University’s School of International Studies.
