Zhang Jianyu helped found the Environmental Defense Fund’s (EDF) China program and has managed the program since 1999. In 2017, EDF became the first official registered foreign environmental NGO in China.

Zhang is an expert on environmental policy and green market-based instruments and contributed to the establishment of China’s Carbon Trading System. He is a frequent commentator on environmental issues in Chinese media.

Zhang has served on many advisory boards, including the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) and the China-ASEAN Environmental Cooperation Center. He is a visiting fellow at Tsinghua University’s School of Public Policy and Management and a visiting professor at Peking University’s School of Environment and Energy,