Biography
Ruoxuan Li is a PhD candidate in Development Economics within the Department of International Development. She is also a member of the Global Production, Finance, and Labour group and the Climate, Environment, and Uneven Development group.
With nearly four years of professional experience in desktop research specialising in ESG reporting and disclosure, she has interned in consultancy, NGOs, and think tanks alongside her studies. Her interdisciplinary research spans economic sociology, sustainable finance, corporate governance, and ESG, with a focus on corporate responses to the climate crisis. Her work concentrates on three main areas: the political economy of carbon markets, corporate decision-making and business ethics, and the financialisation of sustainability accounting.
Ruoxuan holds an MSc in Environment, Politics, and Development from the Department of Geography at King’s College London and a BSc in Economics from Northwestern Polytechnical University. She also completed the Associateship of King’s College (AKC) programme in 2024.
Research
Thesis title: 'Carbon Offsets, Financialisation and Corporate Sustainability: Investigating Carbon Washing in State-Owned Enterprises'
This research investigates the contradictions within carbon washing as a wicked problem, questioning the true commitment of monopolistic oil and gas state-owned enterprises to sustainability. It examines how financialisation influences carbon-washing behaviors and explores potential solutions for balancing sustainability with financial decision-making through a mixed-methods approach.
PhD supervision
- Principal supervisor: Dr Ewa Karwowski
- Secondary supervisor: Dr Nithya Natarajan
Further details
Research
Global Production, Finance and Labour research group
A multidisciplinary research group dealing with global production, labour, money and finance within the Department of International Development at the School of Global Affairs, King's College London.
Climate, Environment, and Uneven Development research group
This group focuses on the critical study of the processes that drive and link social and ecological change in the contemporary world, with special attention to the climate crisis and its multiple social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions.
Critical Global Capitalism Studies Collective
A collective bringing critical global capitalism research, teaching and activism at King's together under one umbrella to provide a forum for collaborations, events, and discussions, and to forge connections with the media, the policy world, and other like-minded groups.
Research
Global Production, Finance and Labour research group
A multidisciplinary research group dealing with global production, labour, money and finance within the Department of International Development at the School of Global Affairs, King's College London.
Climate, Environment, and Uneven Development research group
This group focuses on the critical study of the processes that drive and link social and ecological change in the contemporary world, with special attention to the climate crisis and its multiple social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions.
Critical Global Capitalism Studies Collective
A collective bringing critical global capitalism research, teaching and activism at King's together under one umbrella to provide a forum for collaborations, events, and discussions, and to forge connections with the media, the policy world, and other like-minded groups.