Peggy Liu

Peggy Liu: Pioneering Environmentalist and Global Catalyst for Societal Change

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 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.

Boards and Other Appointments

Peggy is a Distinguished Professor at China Academy of Governance, a lecturer at China Executive Leadership Academy of Pudong, and the National Academy for Mayors of China. She is a board member of Project Drawdown, an advisor to the FTSE Environmental Markets Committee, EAT Forum and Volans, a Governor of the Hillary Institute. She is a Thought Leader at Criticaleye CEO network. She served as an executive advisor to Marks & Spencer, an advisor to PWC China, a sustainability advisor to HP, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils on Sustainable Consumption 2012-13 and on New Energy Architecture 2011-12, and an energy adviser to the Clinton Global Initiative in 2008. She is a recurring judge for The Circulars at Davos (circular economy) and the Hult Prize (social entrepreneurship at college level).

Prior to JUCCCE she was an early-stage venture capitalist in Shanghai. In the 1990’s Peggy was recognized as an Internet pioneer on the cover of ‘Red Herring Hits’. She headed Channel A, one of the earliest e-commerce companies in Silicon Valley. Other executive positions in Silicon Valley included General Manager of Consumer Applications at Zaplet, a dynamic email communications platform, and VP of Marketing at SeeUthere.com. Peggy also served as a management consultant at McKinsey (http://www.mckinsey.com/careers), a product manager for Internet Chameleon- the first Windows software that used a graphical user interface to surfing the Internet, a product manager for Symantec C++ and Norton OEM products, and a programmer on ISDN modems at Codex Motorola.

Academics

She is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and completed a program in Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a program at the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.

Recognitions

​As one of the leading green voices in China, Peggy was honored as:

• a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader,
• Foreign Policy’s shaper of US-China relations,
• the Hillary Step for climate change solutions in 2012,
• a Time Magazine Hero of the Environment in 2008,
• the Hillary Laureate of 2010 for climate change leadership,
• a Forbes ‘Women to Watch in Asia’ in 2010,
• a Huffington Post ‘Greatest Person of the Day’ in 2011,
• one of China’s top 50 innovative business leaders by China Business News Weekly in 2012,
• the Shanghai Excellence Award 2014,
• an InStyle Magazine ‘Woman of the Year’ in 2019.
• an IPWS Women Leadership Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2020

In Chinese press, she has been recognized as a green leader on covers and in features such as:

• Oriental Outlook (‘China Dream’),
• Global Times (‘Green Goddess’),
• Beijing Tatler (‘Green Miracle’),
• The Guardian (‘Climate Change Abolitionists’),
• Vogue China (‘3 Women Who Better the World’),
• Psychologies (’10 Green Handkerchiefs award’),
• Madame Figaro ‘Top Life’ award 2012,
• Jessica (‘Most Successful Women’ 2013),
• L’Officiel (‘China’s Most Successful Women’ 2014).