INTHEBLACK September/October 2025 - Magazine - Page 32
MEMBER
PROFILE
THE SUSTAINABILITY CHAMPIONS
DR KATHY YANG
EUGENE WONG
DR KATHY YANG FCPA
PARTNER OF SUSTAINABILITY & CLIMATE,
DELOITTE CHINA
SHANGHAI, CHINA
When President Xi Jinping announced
China’s commitment to peak its emissions
before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality
by 2060, Dr Kathy Yang FCPA was in the right
place at the right time. She had precisely the
skills required to help organisations shape
their climate goals.
Yang has a PhD in economics (on climate policy)
from The Australian National University and more
than two decades of academic and industrial
experience in climate policy and sustainability
consulting in Australia and China.
“My PhD thesis focused on the environmental
implications of China’s energy use,” she says.
“This was in 2005, which was also the year
when the first international emissions trading
system (ETS) was set up, and my thesis included
a case study about a hypothetical ETS model
for China.
32 INTHEBLACK Sep/Oct 2025 SPECIAL EDITION
ALEX KABYSH
“Very few scholars were focusing on this topic
at the time, but so much has happened since then
in terms of China’s environmental policies,” Yang
adds. “China launched its national ETS framework
in 2021 — 16 years after I started my thesis.”
Yang began her sustainability consulting
career in Perth and returned to China in 2013.
“When I relocated to China, I could see
a gap in terms of sustainability knowledge and
experience,” she says. “Not many businesses
talked about how to address their climate
issues at that time. It’s very different today,
and I encourage businesses to integrate their
ESG strategy into their business strategy.”
Throughout her career, Yang has led global
teams to deliver a range of projects involving
climate policy, ESG strategy and reporting,
climate risk assessment, and greenhouse
gas accounting and management.
“As many Chinese organisations are
working on projects in overseas countries,
they need to understand international climate
context and regulations,” she says. “I feel excited
that I can combine my experiences to help them.”
