Xiaojun "Tom" Wang

Why you should listen

Growing up in a rapidly changing China during the 1970s and 1980s, Xiaojun "Tom" Wang witnessed firsthand the transformation of his community in Shanxi Province from an idyllic rural paradise of blossoming peach trees to a gray, ashen mining center. The figurative and literal collapse of his village inspired him to become an environmental activist, first with Greenpeace and later establishing his own climate advocacy group People of Asia for Climate Solutions in the Philippines.

Today, Wang is in Manila, working with survivors of typhoon Haiyan, farmers back in Shanxi and impacted communities all over Asia to rebuild their homes and environments.