Ryna Cui is an associate research professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and acting director for the Center for Global Sustainability. Cui is an expert in global coal transition, integrated assessment modeling and international and national climate and energy policies. She leads the Global Fossil Transition Project at CGS that focuses on rapid, just coal phaseout pathways both globally and in key countries of interest, including China, India, Indonesia, South Africa and others. As the China program co-director, Cui manages the development and implementation of CGS's China program portfolio. Cui also holds a joint appointment at the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a collaboration between the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland.
Her current research focuses on energy transition, fossil phaseout strategies and societal implications, plant-by-plant coal phaseout pathways, national climate ambition assessment, subnational and all-of-society climate action, low-carbon "Belt and Road Initiative" and scenarios for financial system, including NGFS. She recently served as a contributing author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report. Her prior research has focused on long-term food security under climate change mitigation, international agriculture trade and food demand, integrated assessment of energy-food-water nexus and international carbon markets. She holds a PhD in Environmental Policy from the University of Maryland, a master's degree in public policy from the College of William and Mary and a bachelor's degree in management science and engineering from Renmin University in Beijing.
- Coal transition; climate change mitigation; China climate & energy policy
After the U.S. withdrew from the Paris Agreement in 2017, CGS led the analysis of commitments from the more than 4,000 cities, states, businesses, universities, communities of faith, and more who pledged to support the goals of the Paris Agreement in their own capacity. Since the U.S. officially rejoined the Paris Agreement in March 2021, CGS has continued working with U.S. subnational and international partners to deliver analysis that informs how an "all-of-society" ambitious and achievable U.S. climate strategy can drive actionable and feasible policy. CGS informs U.S. climate policy from the local to global through developing integrated modeling and climate scenarios for the federal government, advising on international discussions to ramp up ambition, and collaborating from the bottom-up to move the resources necessary to set and achieve ambitious climate goals.
Learn More about U.S. Program
Rising to meet the ambition set out by our global climate commitments demands accelerated actions and commitments between all actors across our society: states, cities, businesses, universities, faith groups, and more. These sum-of-society actors have incredible leverage to impact the trajectory of greenhouse gas emissions, innovate across our economy, and accelerate the speed of the global clean energy transition.
Learn More about Subnational Climate Ambition Program
Through our research on the state of global coal, CGS conducts analysis on the trends of global coal power -- leveraging and building on new global datasets to paint a global and country-specific picture of coal power worldwide.
Learn More about Program to Accelerate the Global Coal Transition
Successfully addressing the climate crisis while achieving sustainable development goals will require carefully constructed strategies to enact rapid economic transitions to a cleaner economy—tailored to national circumstances and priorities. The Center for Global Sustainability has deep expertise in country-specific analytical and policy approaches across key sectors and in support of a 1.5°C-pathway.
Learn More about National Climate Strategies
The China Program at CGS integrates scientific research, education, policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement to help understand and inform the development and deployment of China’s climate, energy, and environment strategies across international, national, and local contexts.
Learn More about China ProgramSchool Authors: Alicia Zhao, Kowan O’Keefe, Claire Squire, Kiara Ordonez Olazabal , Matthew Binsted, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui
Other Authors: Adriana Bryant
School Authors: Mengye Zhu, Tiruwork Berhanu Tibebu, Sha Yu, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui
Other Authors: Yingtong Li, Xueting Peng, Jingli Fan, Xinzhao Cheng, Xian Zhang
School Authors: Jiehong Lou, Sha Yu, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Andy Miller, Nathan Hultman
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Maria Borrero, Christoph Bertram, Jenna Behrendt, Audrey Rader, Mel George, Jiehong Lou, Andy Miller, Tiruwork Berhanu Tibebu, Kowan O’Keefe, Xinyue Li, Mengye Zhu, Claire Squire, Nathan Hultman, Xiangwen Fu, Alicia Zhao
Other Authors: Dmitry Churlyaev, Jordan Snarski, Bhavika Buddi, Alexandra Kreis
School Authors: Alicia Zhao, Christoph Bertram, Kiara Ordonez Olazabal , Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui
School Authors: Jiehong Lou, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Guangxiao Hu
Other Authors: Xingchi Shen
School Authors: Alicia Zhao, Kowan O’Keefe, Matthew Binsted, Camryn Dahl, Claire Squire, Kiara Ordonez Olazabal , Steven J. Smith, Nathan Hultman, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui
Other Authors: Shannon Kennedy, Adriana Bryant, Jordan Snarski, Dmitry Churlyaev
School Authors: Jenna Behrendt, Steven J. Smith, Mengye Zhu, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Xinzhao Cheng, Shiqi Chen, Anom Ashok Dule, Haiwen Zhang
School Authors: Kowan O’Keefe, Gokul Iyer, Kathleen Kennedy, Alicia Zhao, Haewon McJeon, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Yang Ou
School Authors: Mengye Zhu, Jenna Behrendt, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Xinzhao Cheng, Wenli Li, Yingtong Li, Chengcheng Mei, Lingyan Chen, Sha Fu
School Authors: Christoph Bertram, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman, Gokul Iyer
Other Authors: Elina Brutschin, Laurent Drouet, Gunnar Luderer, Bas van Ruijven, Lara Aleluia Reis, Luiz Bernardo Baptista, Harmen-Sytze de Boer, Vassilis Daioglou, Florian Fosse, Dimitris Fragkiadakis, Oliver Fricko, Shinichiro Fujimori, Kimon Keramidas, Volker Krey, Elmar Kriegler, Robin D Lamboll, Rahel Mandaroux, Pedro Rochedo, Joeri Rogelj, Roberto Schaeffer, Diego Silva, Isabela Tagomori, Detlef van Vuuren, Zoi Vrontisi, Keywan Riahi
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Gokul Iyer, Alicia Zhao
Other Authors: Aman Malik, Vaibhav Chaturvedi, Medhavi Sandhani, Pallavi Das, Chetna Arora, Nishtha Singh
School Authors: Alicia Zhao, Kowan O’Keefe, Matthew Binsted, Haewon McJeon, Claire Squire, Steven J. Smith, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Gokul Iyer, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Adriana Bryant, Mengqi Zhang, Yang Ou
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui
Other Authors: Shangwei Liu, Yang Guo, Fabian Wagner, Hongxun Liu, Denise L. Mauzerall
School Authors: Alicia Zhao, Kowan O’Keefe, Matthew Binsted, Haewon McJeon, Claire Squire, Steven J. Smith, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Gokul Iyer, Nathan Hultman, Camryn Dahl
Other Authors: Shannon Kennedy, Adriana Bryant, Mengqi Zhang, Yang Ou
School Authors: Mengye Zhu, Steven J. Smith, Meredydd Evans, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Jiehong Lou, Jenna Behrendt, Nathan Hultman, Sha Yu
Other Authors: Minpeng Chen, Qimin Chai, Fei Teng, Pu Wang, Xinzhao Cheng, Wenli Li, Sha Fu, Haiwen Zhang, Manjyot Ahluwalia, Yi Wang
School Authors: Maria Borrero, Claire Squire, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Jiehong Lou, Camryn Dahl, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Molly Schreier, Akbar Bagaskara, Deon Arinaldo, Raditya Wiranegara, Fabby Tumiwa
School Authors: Kathleen Kennedy, Alicia Zhao, Steven J. Smith, Kowan O’Keefe, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Camryn Dahl, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Bradley Phelps, George Hurtt, Lei Ma, Patrick O’Rourke, Yang Ou, Camille Wejnert-Depue, Shannon Kennedy
School Authors: Alicia Zhao, Gokul Iyer, Haewon McJeon, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Wei Peng, Xinyuan Huang, Yang Ou, Shannon Kennedy
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Camryn Dahl, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Michael Westphal , Camille Wejnert-Depue
