Information on impacts of climate change and adaptation in China

Abstract

Climate change adaptation in China faces dual challenges of “development” and “incremental” demands. In recent years, China has made great efforts in climate change impact assessment, adaptation policymaking, and technological research and development. This paper presents an analysis and summary of the achievements and gaps to improve adaptation strategies, and offers a Chinese case study as a reference for other developing countries. In China, positive and negative impacts coexist, with the negatives outweighing the positives. Climate change impacts mainly seven fields, including agriculture, water resources, coastal zone, ecosystem and biodiversity, urban development, major projects, and human health. A top-down policy system of climate change adaptation in China consists of 117 national and departmental policies, 31 provincial action plans and 21 provincial planning. The increasing climate change adaptation policies appear in China. Identification, classification, key chain and a list of climate change adaptation technologies are summarized to build up the technology system. Progress has been made in the development and application of the top 10 adaptation technologies, such as extreme weather event prediction and early warning technology, integrated adaptation technology for human health, and technology for the conservation and restoration of typical climate-sensitive ecosystems. However, gaps still remain in the mismatch between adaptation goals and resources management in adaptation policy making, in adaptation mechanism of global changes, and in corresponding strategic adaptation technology and sufficient top-level design.