ABSTRACT
China is facing a number of key challenges in reducing poverty and maintaining economic growth whilst moving toward and ensuring sustainable development. Its economic growth has been achieved in a challenging context: China now feeds one-seventh of the world’s population using just 9% of its total arable land and just 6% of the world’s renewable water resources (UN, 2014; ICID, 2011; Gleick, 2013; Faurès, 1997; Chapters 4 and 5 of this volume). Many of China’s natural resources are under pressure. Significant pollution of water and soil resources, soil erosion, land degradation, and ecosystem and habitat loss are common; they are due to a complex interplay of previous development pathways and current local to international socio-economic pressures and preferences. Rapid urbanisation, rural-to-urban migration and industrial development are creating economic opportunities and improved standards of living for some while leading to increased socio-economic inequality for others. At the same time, international pressures (e.g. trade deals and market forces) also influence China’s development strategies. The linkages between these dynamic and shifting environmental and development processes are culminating in diverse vulnerabilities and increasing the exposure of its people, assets and infrastructure to natural and technological disasters, leading to heightened risks. Vulnerability (the propensity of a group of people or sector to suffer harm) due to climate variability, extremes and climate change is determined by the complex interplay between socio-economic, political and environmental processes occurring at multiple scales, from the local level to international arenas. It is more than just exposure to a particular hazard;1 different groups of people and sectors within China face disparate levels of vulnerability due to
regional variations in historical development pathways. At this time, the mid2010s, when China is going through rapid social and economic transformation, increasing climate variability and change are mounting pressures that are altering climate risks throughout the country. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like heavy rain or heatwaves appear to be shifting, as are the seasons, though the rates and types of change are highly disparate in various regions (discussed in other chapters in this volume). Climate risk – the likelihood and severity of certain impacts occurring given underlying vulnerability, as well as the likelihood of a hazard occurring – is also dynamic and spatially uneven throughout China. This is a reflection of the regional vulnerability differences and how China’s many climates are changing. Figure 2.1 is a conceptualisation of the interaction between vulnerability and hazards that give rise to risk. Climate variability and change are challenging development and adding to the pressures on China’s natural resources. China has already experienced significant health, agriculture, water resource and ecosystem impacts related to the interactions between increasing climate variability and change and underlying vulnerabilities. These have the potential to slow and disrupt the strides it has made in improving the lives of its people. Because of the marked regional disparities in development and changing climates, a one-size-fits-all approach to assessing vulnerabilities and climate risks is unlikely to adequately capture the deepening differences in economic development and social disparity or lead to holistic, yet targeted, adaptation policies and actions. China is perceived as an economic powerhouse and an emerging superpower, frequently defined by its sheer size (in terms of both landmass and population) and the breakneck speed of its economic growth over the past 30 years. It is also a country of contradictions and paradox. With rapid economic growth and development, the expectation by many Western countries and the other G772 nations is that China’s economy and society are well-equipped to build resilience to climate change. Yet, China’s adaptation policies and actions must address the needs and vulnerability of both highly urbanised and underdeveloped rural areas simultaneously, while finding more environmentally sustainable ways to do so. China is one country with many disparate adaptation needs and profiles, and different responses are required for dealing with these issues. At a time when China is going through rapid social and economic transformation, proper planning and policies, and implementation of these to deal with the impacts of climate change, is essential if the most vulnerable sectors and groups in society are to avoid the greatest hardship. A single all-encompassing approach to adaptation is unlikely to deliver the range of adaptation options China urgently needs to avoid extensive economic and social costs. This book examines some of the core issues China is facing as it tries to adapt to climate change. This chapter provides an overview of the country’s evolving socio-economic diversity and disparities in light of policies and natural resource bases. These, when combined with regional pollution and environmental
C on
ce pt
ua lis
at io
n of
s om
e of
t he
v ul
ne ra
bi lit
y fa
ct or
s (s
en sit
iv ity
/c ap
ac iti
es )
th at
c om
bi ne
w ith
a h
az ar
d to
m ak
e ri
sk s.
