Ryna Cui is an associate research professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy and research director for the Center for Global Sustainability (CGS). 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
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 StrategiesThe 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 ProgramAfter 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. ProgramThrough 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 TransitionSchool Authors: Alicia Zhao, Matthew Binsted, Haewon McJeon, Claire Squire, Steven J. Smith, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Gokul Iyer, Shannon Kennedy, Nathan Hultman, Camryn Dahl
Other Authors: Kowan O'Keefe, 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, Shannon Kennedy, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Camryn Dahl, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Kowan O’Keefe, Bradley Phelps, George Hurtt, Lei Ma, Patrick O’Rourke, Yang Ou, Camille Wejnert-Depue
School Authors: Alicia Zhao, Shannon Kennedy, Gokul Iyer, Haewon McJeon, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Wei Peng, Xinyuan Huang, Yang Ou
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Camryn Dahl, Michael I. Westphal, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Camille Wejnert-Depue
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Jenna Behrendt, Andy Miller, Matthew Zwerling, Christoph Bertram, Mel George, Shannon Kennedy, Michael I. Westphal, Maria Borrero, Alicia Zhao, Gokul Iyer, Kathleen Kennedy, Jiehong Lou, Haewon McJeon, Mengye Zhu, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Alexandra Kreis, Dillon Walton, Aldana Joel Canton, Shiqi Chen, Yingtong Li, Kowan O’Keefe
School Authors: Christoph Bertram, Steven J. Smith, Shannon Kennedy, Jenna Behrendt, Haewon McJeon, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Henry Liu
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Christoph Bertram, Matthew Zwerling, James 'Jae' Edmonds, Michael I. Westphal
School Authors: Sha Yu, Jenna Behrendt, Andy Miller, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Yang Liu, Jacqueline Adams, Wenli Li, Haiwen Zhang, Jing Cheng, Dan Tong, Jiawei Song, Qiang Zhang
School Authors: Gokul Iyer, Haewon McJeon, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Alicia Zhao
Other Authors: Yang Ou, Kowan O’Keefe, Mengqi Zhao, Yang Qiu, Daniel H. Loughlin
School Authors: Mengye Zhu, Jiehong Lou, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Xinzhao Cheng, Siman Li, Danqing Li, Fabby Tumiwa, Deon Arinaldo, Wenli Li
School Authors: Nathan Hultman, Jenna Behrendt, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Matthew Zwerling
Other Authors: Bradley Phelps
School Authors: Gokul Iyer, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, James 'Jae' Edmonds, Nathan Hultman, Haewon McJeon
Other Authors: Allen Fawcett, Yang Ou
School Authors: Kathleen Kennedy, Alicia Zhao, Steven J. Smith, Shannon Kennedy, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Camryn Dahl, Nathan Hultman
Other Authors: Kowan O’Keefe, Bradley Phelps, Sarah Dodds
School Authors: Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui
Other Authors: Mariana Nicolletti, Markus Berensson, Lauri Myllyvirta
School Authors: Nathan Hultman, Jenna Behrendt, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Matthew Zwerling
Other Authors: Bradley Phelps
School Authors: Mengye Zhu, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Nathan Hultman, Kathleen Kennedy
School Authors: Camryn Dahl, Claire Squire, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui
School Authors: Claire Squire, Alicia Zhao, Yiyun 'Ryna' Cui, Shannon Kennedy
Other Authors: Jake Meisel, Grace Deye