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Scoping assessment of knowledge needs in climate change adaptation in China

This report scopes out knowledge gaps and unmet needs relating to climate change adaptation in China, and proposes ways to address them.
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Summary

This report scopes out knowledge gaps and unmet needs relating to climate change adaptation in China, and proposes ways to address them. It is the product of an international collaboration between Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Asia and Beijing Zhi Dao He Xie Management Consulting Co. Ltd., and their work with local and community development organisations. A national scoping study on climate change had already been completed in China. Consultations with national policy-makers indicated a need for additional scoping focused on the adaptation needs in specific ecological zones. Accordingly, this report reviews existing climate change assessments and provides case studies of two ecological zones that have been identified as being particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts: the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in the northwest of China and Guizhou province in the southwest.

The goal of this review is to identify ways to strengthen the links between scientific and technical knowledge with action on climate change adaptation. The study focuses on the impacts of climate change on agriculture and rural development, the two sectors thought to be most vulnerable. It draws on a literature review for context, but employs case study research as its main methodology. Data were collected through a review of official documents and relevant research publications, stakeholder consultations, and rural household interviews using structured questionnaires. The field data and findings were then mapped according to the climate change impacts analytical framework developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007) and the climate change adaptation framework developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNDP-UNEP, 2010) to identify potential knowledge gaps as well as any actions needed to fill them. The findings suggest that there is a need for a knowledge support system to generate, communicate, and manage climate change knowledge and information in support of policy- and decision-making processes at all levels.

ThisweADAPT article is an abridged version of the original text, which can be downloaded from the right-hand column. Please access the original text for more detail, research purposes, full references, or to quote text.

Citation

Li, L., Fei, X., Xu, J. and Slater, H. 2012, Scoping Assessment of Knowledge Needs in Climate Change Adaptation in China, Adaptation Knowledge Platform, Partner Report Series No. 2., Stockholm Environment Institute, Bangkok.

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