1st Edition

Climate Risk and Resilience in China

Edited By Rebecca Nadin, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Xu Yinlong Copyright 2016
    360 Pages
    by Routledge

    360 Pages
    by Routledge

    China has been subject to floods, droughts and heat waves for millennia; these hazards are not new. What is new is how rapidly climate risks are changing for different groups of people and sectors. This is due to the unprecedented rates of socio-economic development, migration, land-use change, pollution and urbanisation, all occurring alongside increasingly more intense and frequent weather hazards and shifting seasons. China’s leadership is facing a significant challenge – from conducting and integrating biophysical and social vulnerability and risk assessments and connecting the information from these to policy priorities and time frames, to developing and implementing policies and actions at a variety of scales. It is within this challenging context that China’s policy makers, businesses and citizens must manage climate risk and build resilience.

    This book provides a detailed study of how China has been working to understand and respond to climatic risk, such as droughts and desertification in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia to deadly typhoons in the mega-cities of the Pearl River Delta. Using research and data from a wide range of Chinese sources and the Adapting to Climate Change in China (ACCC) project, a research-to-policy project, this book provides a fascinating glimpse into how China is developing policies and approaches to manage the risks and opportunities presented by climate change.

    This book will be of interest to those studying global and Chinese climate change policy, regional food, water and climate risk, and to policy advisors.

    Part 1 Introduction to Adaptation Processes and China’s Development Context  1. Climate Change Adaptation Planning to Policy: Critical Considerations and Challenges Roger Street, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Rebecca Nadin, Cordia Chu, Scott Baum and Declan Conway  2. China’s Complex Development Context and Adaptation Challenge Rebecca Nadin, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton and Jia Wei  Part 2 Climate Change Risks in Five Chinese Sectors 3. Adapting Against Disasters in a Changing Climate  Zhou Hongjian, Wang Xi, Wang Changgui, Yuan Yi, Wang Dandan, Xu Yinlong, Pan Jie, Krystal Lair, Anna Barnett and Samantha Kierath  4. A Balancing Act: China’s Water Resources and Climate Change Wang Guoqing, Rebecca Nadin, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton and Samantha Kierath  5. Feeding China Li Kuo, Zheng Dawei, Hu Yanan, Ma Jianyong, Xu Yinlong, Andreas Wilkes, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Rebecca Shadwick, Krystal Lair, Rebecca Nadin and Samantha Kierath  6. Grasslands and Livestock Pan Xuebiao, Li Qiuyue, Wang Jing, Chen Chen, Dong Wanlin, Andreas Wilkes, Krystal Lair, Rebecca Shadwick, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Anna Barnett and Samantha Kierath  7. Human Health, Well Being and Climate Change in China Ma Wenjun, Lin Hualiang, Liu Tao, Xiao Jianpeng, Luo Yuan, Huang Cunrui, Liu Qiyong, Cordia Chu, Zeng Weilin, Hu Mengjue, Jessica M. Keralis, Esther Onyango, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Rebecca Nadin and Samantha Kierath  Part 3 Social Vulnerability and Climate Risks in Three Provinces  8. Ningxia Zheng Yan, Meng Huixin, Zhang Xiaoyu, Zhu Furong, Wang Zhanjun, Fang Shuxing, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Pan Jiahua, Ma Zhongyu, Fan Jianmin, Shi Shangbai, Fan Jianrong, Xie Xinlu, Rebecca Nadin and Samantha Kierath  9. Climate Change and Inner Mongolia Hang Shuanzhu, Shan Ping, Bao Lu, Ao Renqi, Wang Jianwu, Zheng Yan, Wei Yurong, Du Fenglian, Su Hao, Wang Mingjiu, Zhu Zhongyuan, Zhou Liguang, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Rebecca Shadwick, Rebecca Nadin and Samantha Kierath  10. Guangdong Du Yaodong, Zeng Yunmin, Ma Wenjun, Chen Xiaohong, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton, Rebecca Nadin and Samantha Kierath  Part 4 Adaptation Planning and Policy in China 11. Adaptation Policy and Planning in China: Developments and Future Direction Rebecca Nadin, Sarah Opitz-Stapleton and Jia Wei

    Biography

    Rebecca Nadin is Regional Director of INTASAVE Asia-Pacific, and Director of the
    Adapting to Climate Change in China Project Phase II (ACCC II). She is also an adjunct
    lecturer at the Centre for Environment and Population Health, Griffith University, Australia.
    She previously was director of ACCC Phase I. She also worked as the Deputy Director of the British Council’s Global Climate Change Programme and Director of the China Climate Change Programme.

    Sarah Opitz-Stapleton is a Senior Scientist with INTASAVE Asia-Pacific, and Chief
    Scientist to the Adapting to Climate Change in China Project Phase II (ACCC II). She
    was previously a technical adviser to ACCC I. She is also a Senior Associate Scientist
    with the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition International (ISET-Int) and
    an independent research scientist with Staplets Consulting.

    Xu Yinlong is Professor of the Climate Change Lab, Institute of Environment and Sustainable
    Development in Agriculture (IEDA), Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
    (CAAS). He was the Chief Scientist of China’s Tenth Five Year (2001–2005) and Eleventh
    Five Year (2006–2010) National Key Technologies R&D Program Project on
    Climate Change VIA Assessments.

    "Climate Risk and Resilience in China overviews adaptation planning processes and mainstreaming practices which help researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders better understand climate change risks and adaptation plans in China".Professor Li Yue, Climate Change Division, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences

    "Climate Risk and Resilience in China manages to clearly communicate the complex Chinese context whilst showing how human development influences vulnerability, makes it a significant contribution to a fast-developing field of research. Its nuanced analysis provides the reader with much-needed insights into climate change adaptation in this important country."-Tor Håkon Jackson Inderberg, PhD, Senior Research Fellow and European Programme Director, The Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Oslo, Norway, and Editor-in-Chief for Climate Change Adaptation and Development: Changing Paradigms and Practices.

    "Climate Risk and Resilience in China identifies and addresses many urgent issues in China's climate change adaptation policies at the provincial level. Based on comprehensive case studies, this book demonstrates to the readers that climate change, social-economic development and disaster risk reduction must be incorporated into policy planning processes and even more importantly, although more difficult, mainstreamed into practice." – Professor Ye Qian, Executive Director Integrated Risk Governance Project/Future Earth Program, Beijing Normal University