Peggy Liu – Keynote Speaker

Peggy Liu, Chairperson of JUCCCE, is a leading environmentalist at the heart of the greening of China since 2007. Named the “Green Goddess of China” by Chinese press, she travels the world to consult companies and governments on how to catalyze societal-scale change, scale sustainable innovation, and collaborate with China.

Peggy keynotes around the world on lessons she learnt in tackling China’s toughest environmental challenges: pollution, urbanization, epidemics, drought, obesity and diabetes. Peggy’s superpower is bringing people together to bring in a better future faster. Peggy’s “Tornado Leadership” methodology draws from her work across policy, economic, technical, and spiritual realms to lead these China-wide changes:​

Organized the MIT Forum on the Future of Energy in China from which JUCCCE was formed. This forum was the first public dialogue between US and Chinese government officials on clean energy in China, just as China was just starting to look seriously at greening itself. China quickly became the world leader in renewable energy investments.

Introduced Smart Grid to China and catalyzed the revolution of electricity distribution to allow for renewable energies and energy efficiency at scale. Now China is the world leader in implementing Smart Grid innovations.

Educated 1000 Chinese government leaders (mayors and central government) on how to build sustainable cities with the earliest trainings on “ecocity development”. This curriculum helped shape eco-city trends in China. Now China is leading the world in building sustainable cities.

Catalysed China’s change from incandescent lighting to energy efficient lighting, the largest leverage point in saving energy. Now China is the world leader in LEDs.

Created the China Dream initiative in 2010 to reimagine prosperity for sustainable consumerism. “China Dream” is now the national slogan. A healthy environment is now embedded into the national priority and identity of China.

Launched Food Heroes in 2013, teaching young kids and parents to eat in a way that is good for themselves and the planet. Now China’s diets are incorporating more planetary friendly foods and food waste policies are strictly implemented.

Peggy is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She was awarded the “Nobel” of climate change, the “Hillary Step”. The Economist called her “one of the most innovative thinkers in Asia.” Previously, she was a venture capitalist and founded one of the earliest ecommerce companies in Silicon Valley. A “Red Herring” cover story dubbed her an “Internet Pioneer”. She started her career as an MIT-trained engineer and McKinsey consultant.

Peggy Liu dedicates her life to personal and planetary health. She believes that the most helpful skill is heart-based storytelling, and that cultural translators will have the most important roles of the next generation.