Professor Yuli Shan PhD

Profile picture of Dr Yuli Shan

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Professor in Sustainability
Director of UoB–NJU Joint Centre for Research and Education in Climate, Environment & Health
GEES Sustainability Lead

Contact details

Telephone
0121 414 5525
Email
y.shan@bham.ac.uk
Twitter
@yuli_shan
View my research portal
Address
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Professor Yuli Shan is an expert in Climate Change and Sustainable Transitions. His interdisciplinary research aims to reveal how human activities affect global and regional climate change. He also seeks alternative low-carbon approaches towards the achievement of climate targets and a net-zero emission society. 

He is a Global Highly Cited Researcher (since 2020) and a Fellow of Royal Geographical Society (since 2024). His research achievement and international reputation has resulted in 20+ academic awards, 160+ publications in high-impact journals, 16k+ citations, high-profile media coverage, international conference and committee invites and contributing authorship for the IPCC 6th Assessment Report.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Climate Change and Development, University of East Anglia (2018)
  • Master of Social Development and Public Policy, Fudan University (2014)
  • BSc in Statistics and Actuarial Science, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics (2012)

Biography

Prof. Yuli Shan is a Professor in Sustainability at the University of Birmingham. Before joining the University of Birmingham, he worked at the University of Groningen as a Faculty Research Fellow. He got a doctoral degree from the University of East Anglia (2018) and a master’s degree from Fudan University (2014).

Yuli is a Global Highly Cited Researcher and the World's Top 2% Scientist since 2020. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, an contributing author for IPCC assessment reports, a coordinating lead authorship for National Climate Change Assessment Report of China, and an executive committee member of the National Association of Input-Output and Big Data of China. He is an Associate Editor or Editorial Board Member of several journals including Science Bulletin, Scientific Data, Advances in Applied Energy, etc.
 
Yuli has won a dozen academic prizes including the University of Birmingham Founders' Awards (2023), the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed PhD Students Abroad (2016), and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research Green Talents Award (2018). Yuli has been interviewed by renowned media outlets and invited to present his research at international conferences.

Teaching

  • Climate Change in the Earth System - UG year 3
  • Global Environmental Issues - UG year 1
  • Fieldtrip course (Tokyo)
  • BSc Global Environmental Change and Sustainability

Postgraduate supervision

Climate Change Mitigation and Economics; Sustainable Development; Accounting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Research

Prof. Yuli Shan’s research focuses on accounting for carbon emissions, climate change economics, and sustainable development, with a special focus on developing countries and cities. He has published about 200 papers in high-impact journals, including 20+ in Nature and Science entitled journals. His papers have been cited over 22,000 times (h-index 68), and 33 of them are ESI highly cited papers and 20 are hot papers.

Yuli has co-founded an open emission dataset (CEADs.net) to provide the most up-to-date regional emission and energy data for emerging countries and subnational regions.

Other activities

  • Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
  • Board member of the Sustainable Urban System section of the International Society of Industrial Ecology (ISIE) and National Association of Input-Output and Big Data of China
  • Member of the International Input-Output Association (IIOA) and the International Society for Energy Transition Studies
  • Contributing author of the IPCC 6th assessment report, working group III
  • Editor for Scientific Data, Advances in Applied Energy, Journal of Cleaner Production, etc.

Publications

Highlight publications

Mi, Z, Meng, J, Guan, D, Shan, Y, Song, M, Wei, Y-M, Liu, Z & Hubacek, K 2017, 'Chinese CO2 emission flows have reversed since the global financial crisis', Nature Communications. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01820-w

Zhang, N, Duan, H, Shan, Y, Miller, TR, Yang, J & Bai, X 2023, 'Booming solar energy is encroaching on cropland', Nature Geoscience, vol. 16, pp. 932–934. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01304-1

Guan, D, Meng, J, Reiner, DM, Zhang, N, Shan, Y, Mi, Z, Shao, S, Liu, Z, Zhang, Q & Davis, SJ 2018, 'Structural decline in China’s CO2 emissions through transitions in industry and energy systems', Nature Geoscience, vol. 11, pp. 551–555. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0161-1

Li, Y, He, P, Shan, Y, Li, Y, Hang, Y, Shao, S, Ruzzenenti, F & Hubacek, K 2024, 'Reducing climate change impacts from the global food system through diet shifts', Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02084-1

Xia, C, Zheng, H, Meng, J, Shan, Y, Liang, X, Li, J, Yin, Z, Chen, M, Du, P & Wang, C 2024, 'Outsourced carbon mitigation efforts of Chinese cities from 2012 to 2017', Nature Cities, vol. 1, no. 7, pp. 480-488. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-024-00088-8

Recent publications

Article

Zhang, D, Wang, H, Prell, C, Yan, J, Li, Y, Zhou, P, Shan, Y & Hubacek, K 2026, 'Assessing the unequal distribution between social benefits and costs across countries along global supply chains', Ecological Economics, vol. 245, 108982. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2026.108982

Zhang, N, Gao, X, Duan, H, Xiong, G, Yang, Z, Shan, Y, Xu, M, Yang, J & Bai, X 2026, 'China’s unfinished buildings have created stranded assets with substantial resource and socioeconomic costs', One Earth, vol. 9, no. 5, 101649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2026.101649

Fang, W, Wang, X, Ye, L, Geng, J, Wu, M, Li, R, Liu, M, Shan, Y, Yang, J, Ma, Z & Bi, J 2026, 'City-Level Nexus of Embodied Waste Carbon in China', Environmental Science and Technology, vol. 60, no. 18, pp. 13301-13313. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6c03175

Tian, P, Feng, K, Chen, X, Li, D, Jiang, M, Li, J, Zheng, H, Shan, Y & Sun, L 2026, 'Consumption inequalities in material use undermining resources sustainability', Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-025-01726-2

Zhang, L, Bai, Z, Xi, W, Zhang, D, Olesen, JE, Harrison, MT, Bernacchi, C, Makowski, D, McDonald, AJ, Shi, S, Liu, K, Rezaei, EE, Zheng, Q, Shan, Y, Chen, F & Yin, X 2026, 'Cultivar evolution underpins maize yield sensitivity to adverse climate conditions', Nature Communications, vol. 17, no. 1, 4528. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71045-3

Qian, J, Wynn, T, Liu, B, Shan, Y, Bartington, SE, Pope, FD, Dai, Y & Shi, Z 2026, 'Enhancing Accuracy of Indoor Air Quality Sensors via Automated Machine Learning Calibration', Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 603-615. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-603-2026

Wang, S, Liang, J, Shan, Y, Fang, C & Bai, X 2026, 'From local production to global consumption: Assessing the carbon footprints of Chinese cities in global value chains', PNAS nexus, vol. 5, no. 3, pgag050. https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag050

Yu, H, Yang, X, Li, R, Tang, J, Hubacek, K & Shan, Y 2026, 'Global monthly 0.1° land XCO2 data (2017–2024) estimated via multi-source fusion and spatiotemporal pattern integration', Environmental Research: Climate, vol. 5, no. 2, 025028. https://doi.org/10.1088/2752-5295/ae6887

Wang, J, Wang, P, Hsu, S-C, He, P, Wu, Y, Ren, F, Wang, Y, Chu, W, Bi, J, Huang, L & Shan, Y 2026, 'International trade reduces emissions through technology transfer led by key emitters', Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-026-02595-z

Zhou, Y, Lu, Y, He, Z, Zhu, S & Shan, Y 2026, 'Investigating the factors driving the rapid expansion of renewable energy installed capacity in China', Applied Energy, vol. 414, 127811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2026.127811

Yang, G, Zhang, G, Cao, D, Wang, X, Hu, F, Yang, S, Yang, Y, Zhang, Y, Zhang, X, Zha, D & Shan, Y 2026, 'Mitigating atmospheric heavy metal pollution requires added efforts amid rapid clean-energy transitions in Chinese cities', Communications Earth and Environment, vol. 7, 422. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03436-9

Lin, K, Tian, K & Shan, Y 2026, 'Multinational enterprises mitigate carbon inequality across Chinese cities', Sustainable Production and Consumption, vol. 64, pp. 266-281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2026.03.001

Xu, D, Zhang, Y, Ye, Q, Shan, Y & Li, J 2026, 'Over two-thirds of the historical carbon emissions embodied in legacy capital contribute to China's growing consumption-based emissions responsibility', Environmental Impact Assessment Review, vol. 118, 108268. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2025.108268

Shi, Y, Li, J, Liu, M, Zhu, D, Liu, B, Li, R, Shu, Y, Shan, Y, Yang, J, Fang, W, Ma, Z, Bi, J & Hubacek, K 2026, 'Projected Reductions in Staple Crop Production and Nutritional Quality Under Climate Change: Machine Learning Evidence From China', Earth's Future, vol. 14, no. 5, e2025EF006781. https://doi.org/10.1029/2025EF006781

Zhou, Y, Lu, Y, Yang, Y, Cheng, Y, He, Z, Wang, Y & Shan, Y 2026, 'Reshaping global energy security: Implications of embodied energy transfers in global supply chains', Energy Policy, vol. 213, 115186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115186

View all publications in research portal