Prof. ZHANG Lin (張林)

Prof. Dr. Zhang studied at Peking University with double bachelor degrees in mechanical engineering and economics. He then moved to Switzerland where he earned his master’s degree in management and Ph.D. in economics from ETH Zurich. He joined the faculty of City University of Hong Kong in 2016, and was promoted to Associate Professor (with tenure) in 2022 and Full Professor in 2025. Before that, he worked in the Center of Economic Research at ETH Zurich. He was also a researcher associated with the Energy Science Center, Simulation Lab, and the Competence Center for Research in Energy, Society, and Transition in Switzerland. He now serves as the editor for The Energy Journal and the associate editor for Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (Springer Nature). He is a council member of the International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE) and the regional representative of Asia-Oceania leaders in energy economics. He has also been the Hong Kong Convention Ambassador appointed by the Hong Kong Tourism Board (2023-2026).

His primary research focuses on energy, climate change, sustainability economics, and policy analysis. In his ultimate pursuit of regional sustainable development, his work combines multiple tools, including economic theory, econometrics, computable general equilibrium modeling, applied machine learning techniques, and integrated interdisciplinary assessment methods to seek policy solutions to sustainability. He has also extended his research interests into business, social, and urban sustainability issues. Prof. Zhang's research has received funding support from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Research Grants Council in Hong Kong, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the provincial government of Sichuan, and the European Environmental Agency, among others. He has been listed in "Top Scholar in Social Sciences (top 0.5%)" by ScholarGPS, "Top 2% Scientists" by Stanford University, "Top 5% Economists (Last 10 years publications) by RePEc (Research Papers in Economics), "Top 30,000 Social Scientists" (all disciplines) by SSRN (Social Science Research Network). He has also won many awards for his excellent research from regional and international professional organizations. In 2024, Prof. Zhang was selected as one of the 18 SUSI Scholars globally sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. 

• Energy and Sustainability Economics
• Policy for Sustainable Resource Use
• Green Business & Sustainable Governance
• Climate Change Policy and Climate Risk Management
• Environmental Regulation and Governance 

• Guest Editor: International Review of Financial Analysis (SSCI), since 2025
• Guest Editor: Energy Policy (SCI & SSCI), since 2024
• Editor: Cambridge Prisms: Energy Transition, since 2024
• Editor: The Energy Journal (SSCI), since 2024
• Associate Editor: Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (SSCI), Springer Nature, since Apr. 2023 
• Board of International Editors: The Energy Journal (SSCI), since Jan. 2023
• Associate Editor: Frontiers in Environmental Science (SCI), since 2022
• Associate Editor: Frontiers in Climate, since 2022
• Guest Editor for the special issue "Rethinking Green Energy Development: Cognitive Biases", Frontiers in Energy Research (SCI), 2021
• Guest Editor for the special issue "Pollution and Economic Development", Economies (ESCI), 2018.