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Mitigating and adapting to climate change

By Li Kuo | China Daily | Updated: 2021-11-01 07:00

Aerial photo taken on Aug 23, 2021 shows the scenery of Saihanba forest farm in North China's Hebei province. [Photo/Xinhua]

Since the Industrial Revolution, particularly in the past 100 years, the world's dependence on fossil fuels has been associated with climate change, which has had a profound impact on natural resources, ecosystems, and economic and social development. Worse, in recent years, warming-induced extreme weather events have become increasingly frequent.

Take China for example. In July, heavy rains and floods in Henan province, especially in Zhengzhou, caused 302 deaths. And in October, floods caused widespread damage in Shanxi province, affecting 1.75 million people in 76 counties.

Climate change, global economic crisis and terrorism have thus become the three major threats to global development. And reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate adaptation are the best ways to deal with climate change.

Yet how to choose the countermeasures that best suit their requirements to fight climate change is a major challenge facing governments around the world.

Nearly 200 countries and parties signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 which came into force in 2016. The climate agreement's focus is on low-carbon development, in order to reduce GHG emissions, and enhancing adaptation capability.

In order to promote adaptation measures worldwide, then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon headed a global committee established by 17 countries with the aim of helping vulnerable groups and rural communities to better adapt to climate change.

As President Xi Jinping said, mitigation and adaptation should be paid equal attention in the global fight against climate change. For humans, adapting to climate change means following the natural law and living in harmony with nature. And, adapting to climate change is a key to sustainable development.

Facing global warming, many countries have implemented, or worked out, national policies and action plans for adapting to climate change. For instance, while addressing the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly, via video link, in September 2020, Xi pledged that China will peak carbon emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

But to achieve the two goals, and maintain sustainable development, China needs to not only drastically reduce GHG emissions, but also better adapt to climate change.

China is the world's largest developing country with the largest population. And given its complex climate conditions and fragile environment, climate change poses a serious threat to China's food, water, energy and eco-environmental security, as well as people's lives and livelihoods. And that's why China attaches great importance to climate change.

China's climate policies and actions are focused more on mitigation, including adjusting the industrial structure, improving energy efficiency, and expanding its carbon sinks. In fact, by 2019, China has cut its carbon intensity, or carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP, by 48.1 percent compared with 2005, exceeding the reduction target by 40 to 45 percent between 2005 and 2020.

As for adapting to climate change, China focuses on enhancing its adaptation capacity in key areas. The national strategy for climate change adaptation, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission and eight other central government departments in 2013, required climate change adaptation to be incorporated into China's overall economic and social development plans. It also called for taking coordinated actions in vulnerable, climate-sensitive areas, and educating the people about the importance of adapting to climate change.

More than a decade ago, China established a national climate change response coordination committee, and a climate change management system under the leadership of the National Leading Group to Address Climate Change, which reports to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. Among the responsibilities of the group is proposing adaptation policies, which have played an important role in promoting adaptation actions.

The gradual mainstreaming of climate-related policies and their incorporation into policies in other fields have boosted China's adaptation capability.

Besides, provincial- and regional-level policies and actions generally better suit local conditions when it comes to climate adaptation. Since different regions affected by climate change have different adaptation capability, so the principles and objectives of their adaptation policies should be based on their real conditions including their natural, social and economic characteristics.

Overall, China's climate adaptation policies have moved from the primary stage of institutional construction to the critical stage of implementation and action. Yet China needs to introduce more detailed and specific adaptation policies based on solid scientific and technological support.

Taking the whole society approach to better adapt to climate change is the best way to deal with climate change in the future. And it is imperative that the authorities take local conditions and other factors into account while drafting adaptation policies and ensure financial considerations do not prevent the implementation of adaptation policies.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

 

The author is with the Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

If you have a specific expertise, or would like to share your thought about our stories, then send us your writings at opinion@chinadaily.com.cn, and comment@chinadaily.com.cn.

 

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