On the evening of December 9, the side event of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) on the theme of "Climate Adaptation and Resilience" was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The side event was jointly organized by the China Association for Science and Technology and the Institute of Agricultural Environment and Sustainable Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and co-organized by the China Committee of the Future Earth Project, the Global Secretarial Center of the Future Earth Program (China), the United Nations Consultative Transportation and Sustainable Infrastructure Professional Committee of the China Association for Science and Technology, and the United Nations Consultative Clean Energy and "Double Carbon" Strategy Professional Committee of the China Association for Science and Technology. The conference invited experts and scholars from all over the world to discuss the core issues of climate adaptation and resilience.
Experts from the United Nations Consultative Environment Committee of the China Association for Science and Technology gave an in-depth scientific interpretation of relevant issues, introduced potential pathways for climate change adaptation and restoration at regional and global scales, analyzed historical and existing solutions, discussed climate change adaptation solutions that can be deployed on a large scale, and demonstrated potential climate resilience pathways from multiple perspectives such as equitable practices, integration of diverse knowledge, and addressing vulnerability. The experts at the meeting actively offered suggestions and suggestions, demonstrating the firm determination and responsibility of Chinese scientists in addressing global climate change, and telling the story of China's climate adaptation to the world.
Yang Yang, Director of the Strategic Research Department of the China Center for International Science and Technology Exchanges, extended a warm welcome to the experts and scholars and wished the side meeting a complete success.
Yang Yang, Director of the Strategic Research Department of the China International Science and Technology Exchange Center, delivered a speech.
Professor Dong Wenjie, Secretary-General of the United Nations Consultative Environment Committee of the China Association for Science and Technology and Dean of the School of Atmospheric Sciences of Sun Yat-sen University, mentioned in his opening speech that behind the hot topic of climate change is the great challenge of climate adaptation and resilience that mankind has to face in history, present and future. Tens of thousands of years before the climate change debate, humanity began to learn how Xi adapt to the environment, starting from Africa and going global. Even if we succeed in achieving carbon peak and carbon neutrality, the problem of climate adaptation will still exist. Climate adaptation and resilience should be put on the agenda as soon as possible, bringing together the wisdom of all humanity and the actions of all countries to create a better future for future generations.
Professor Dong Wenjie delivered a speech.
Regional climate adaptation and response.
Professor Dong Wenjie and Dr. Ran Qi gave a detailed introduction to the latest progress of the next-generation integrated earth system model SYCIM independently developed by Sun Yat-sen University in a report entitled "Refined Research on the Future Climate of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area". The model uses the dynamic downscaling method to successfully simulate the ultra-high-resolution climate change in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in the next 80 years, and realizes the seamless integration of multiple spatial and temporal scales from global to regional, from climate to weather. The results show that under the climate warming scenario, the sea surface temperature around the Greater Bay Area will rise significantly by the end of this century, and hundreds of square kilometers of land will be submerged. The Greater Bay Area is extremely vulnerable to future climate change and needs to take action urgently. This research result fully demonstrates the great potential of China's self-developed advanced earth system model to grasp the frontier issues of earth science and serve disaster prevention and mitigation, the strategy of maritime power and the sustainable development of regional social and economic development.
Professor Dong Wenjie made a report.
Dr. Ran Qi from Sun Yat-sen University made a report.
Researcher Zhai Panmao, Chief Scientist of the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences and Deputy Director of the National Climate Change Expert Committee, shared the city's solutions to extreme weather and climate events. In the current global changes and China's rapid urbanization process, the frequency of compound extreme events is increasing, and the difficulty of prevention is also increasing. Researcher Zhai Panmao emphasized that urban areas are not only the main drivers of climate change, but also the main battlefield for climate adaptation, mitigation and sustainable development. Strengthening the resilience and resilience of urban areas to climate-related disasters is critical to addressing the growing risk of climate extremes.
Researcher Zhai Panmao made a report.
Professor Jiang Tong, academician of the European Academy of Sciences and professor of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, focused on the transformation from "shared socio-economic pathway" to "shared adaptation path" in his report. He pointed out that since its launch in 2010, the "shared socio-economic pathway" has been used to quantitatively assess the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and socio-economic development pathways, and has been widely used in climate change attribution, projection and impact, risk and adaptation mitigation, while the newly proposed "shared adaptation pathway" additionally introduces the difference in the degree and level of adaptation over time, aiming to adopt the residual risks generated by different climate adaptation measures, which can provide decision-makers with more comprehensive and reliable professional risk information.
Professor Jiang Tong made a report.
Zhou Tianjun, deputy director of the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Zhang Wenxia, associate researcher, pointed out that the uneven emission of anthropogenic aerosols in the past half century has changed the intensity of the westerly jet stream over Eurasia by affecting the tropospheric temperature gradient, and the precipitation in the high mountains of Asia has changed in the "dry in the south and wet in the north". However, in the future scenario, the continuous emission of greenhouse gases will be conducive to the warming and humidification of the entire plateau areaAt the same time, due to the impact of the "clean air" (reduction of anthropogenic aerosol emissions) actions in the world, including in Asia, the two will work together to promote the transformation of precipitation in the Himalayan region from the current "dry" to the future "wet", so that the Asian high mountain areas will have an inflection point from "dry in the south and wet in the north" to "wet in the north and south", which is related to the changes in glacier water storage, ecological environment, and water resource distribution, which can provide a scientific reference for effectively responding to regional climate change.
Associate researcher Zhang Wenxia made a report.
Climate recovery and China's responsibility.
Associate Professor Wei Jing of Sun Yat-sen University analyzed a detailed inventory of N2O emissions in China over the past four decades (1980-2020). She said that thanks to China's zero-growth action plan for chemical fertilizers issued in 2015, N2O emission reduction in the agricultural sector has begun to bear fruit. It is expected that N2O emissions will be reduced more effectively by further reducing the use of nitrogen fertilizers, promoting emission reductions in the industrial sector, and optimizing the energy mix. The inventory provides decision-makers with up-to-date information to help develop more targeted climate adaptation policies.
Associate Professor Wei Jing made a report.
Niu Shuli, a researcher at the Institute of Geography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced China's recent international science program on ecosystem restoration and carbon neutrality. Faced with the urgent problem that at least a quarter of the world's terrestrial ecosystems have been degraded to varying degrees, China has decisively launched a large-scale scientific plan and established a national scientific research team, demonstrating its responsibility as a major country. Niu Shuli pointed out that the plan will be based on scientific plans and research reports, and finally release the UN ecosystem restoration case study***, and she also looks forward to more countries and regions joining the plan to jointly explore the path of climate-resilient development.
Researcher Niu Shuli made an online report.
Zhang Qianggong, a researcher at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced the changes, impacts and coping strategies of the Third Pole cryosphere. Over the past few decades, global warming and increased black carbon emissions have led to a significant retreat of the Third Pole cryosphere, reduced snow cover, and degradation of permafrost. These changes have not only changed the frequency and intensity of mountain disasters, but also seriously threatened local water resources and ecosystems. Measures should be taken to reduce black carbon emissions, optimize the use of cryospheric resources, and establish an early warning system for disaster risks, so as to enhance climate change adaptation capacity and promote the sustainable development of the Third Pole cryosphere.
Researcher Zhang Qianggong made an online report.
Group photo of the conference.