Shanghai accelerates push toward full climate resilience by 2035

As Shanghai strives to become a fully climate-resilient city by 2035, it is stepping up efforts to advance green development, according to official sources. Heping Park, located in Hongkou district, demonstrates how a sponge system contributes to climate adaptation.

Beneath the park's scenic lotus pond and winding lanes lies an underground water storage system that can temporarily store 150 cubic meters of rainwater, according to Zhong Mingming, head of the water engineering division at the research institute of Shanghai Municipal Engineering Design Institute (Group) Co Ltd.

"The park's sponge system allows it to function as a temporary water storage system during heavy rain and other emergencies. Since the facility was put into operation in 2022, roads in the surrounding areas that were once prone to flooding have been able to drain rainwater within an hour," said Zhong.

"This economic and practical solution is now being duplicated in similar projects across the city," added Zhong.

About 450,000 local residents have joined Shanghai's carbon-reduction platform in the year since its launch in June 2025, underscoring the city's steady progress in building a climate-resilient city

The platform has attracted nearly 1,000 emissions-reduction projects, resulting in more than 330,000 tons of carbon emission reductions, according to the organizers of this year's National Low Carbon Day themed activities in Shanghai on June 17.

Shanghai has made solid progress toward becoming a fully climate-resilient city by 2035, achieving significant results over the past two years in line with its 2024–2035 climate adaptation action plan, according to the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment.

"As of the end of last year, China's solution to early warnings for all MAZU had been virtually applied in 40 countries, and deployed locally in seven countries including Pakistan, Ethiopia, and the Solomon Islands," said Zhao Yang, director of data center at the Shanghai Meteorological Service.

"It is worth noting that the urban scenario application agent developed by Shanghai's meteorological department has been officially deployed in Djibouti and Mongolia," said Zhao.

According to Zhao, the artificial intelligence-powered system for urban multi-hazard early warning under the MAZU framework was officially launched last July.

"It has formed a complete warning system that includes risk knowledge, monitoring and warning, alert issuance, and emergency response," said Zhao.