The China Paradox

China is investing in clean energy at a scale the world has never seen before — building solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles fast enough to reshape global markets. As Bill McKibben recently pointed out, Chinese clean-tech investments now rival the Marshall Plan in size, even as the U.S. backslides into climate denial and continues fossil fuel expansion. The paradox is sharp: China burns more coal than the rest of the world combined and announced plans for the world’s largest dam, imperiling neighbors and fragile ecosystems, yet it’s also home to some of the most ambitious ecological visions of our time.

In this issue, we look closer at a few of the compelling visions. Scholar Mary Evelyn Tucker reflects on her decades of work in China and the nation’s pursuit of an “ecological civilization.” Visionary designer Kongjian Yu shows how “sponge cities” are transforming urban landscapes with nature-based resilience. And an illustrated feature from High Country News reminds us that, just as seeds carry memory and belonging across generations, cultural wisdom can guide ecological renewal across borders.

Together, these stories reveal both the peril and the promise of China’s path — and what the rest of us can learn from it.

Just as we were about to send out this newsletter, Kongjian Yu, the great landscape architect world renowned for his “sponge cities” designs, whose work we are featuring in this edition, died in a plane crash in Brazil. We send our deepest condolences to his family and colleagues. This is a great tragedy, as at 62, he had many years of productive work left, and his visionary but highly practical approach to urbanism is more critically important than ever before. His influence will live on for a very long time. We are honored to have been exposed to his genius and mourn his loss.

Stories, Voices & Perspectives

Mary Evelyn Tucker: China’s Vision for an Ecological Future
Scholar and Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology co-founder Mary Evelyn Tucker explores China’s pursuit of “ecological civilization” — and the paradox of coal dependence alongside clean energy leadership.
Watch and read now →

Kongjian Yu: Designing China’s “Sponge Cities”
World-renowned landscape architect Kongjian Yu worked to transform hundreds of cities with nature-based designs that turn floods into green spaces and model resilience for a changing climate.
Watch now →

Rinku Sen: The Seeds Remember
Writer and artist Rinku Sen shares an illustrated story on seeds as vessels of memory, migration, and resilience — reminding us how ancestral wisdom shapes ecological futures.
Read the illustrated feature →

What You Can Do

Explore the ecological wisdom of the world’s religions through a series of self-paced online courses from Yale University and Coursera, co-taught by Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim.

From Indigenous to East Asian to Western traditions, these courses reveal how spiritual teachings can inspire ecological action, resilience, and hope in the face of today’s crises.

Learn more →

Bioneers Learning Course Spotlight — Sacred Activism: Meeting Our Challenges as Gateways for Embodying Interconnection

What if our greatest challenges are invitations to become more whole? In this four-week live course, Bioneers Co-Founder Nina Simons and author/teacher Deborah Eden Tull explore sacred activism as a pathway for turning adversity into growth, healing, and regenerative service. Together, we’ll practice weaving inner transformation with outer engagement—learning to meet complexity with presence, compassion, and heart-centered leadership.

Register now