As developing countries become more vulnerable to climate
change, China yesterday urged developed nations to speed up the
transfer of resources in order to mitigate the impact.
In its latest assessment report released on Friday, the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded that poor
communities and developing countries are particularly vulnerable to
climate change.
"I would like to appeal to developed countries to accelerate
their funding for adaptation research and speed up the transfer of
adaptation technology and cooperate with developing countries in
working out solutions," Yang Xiongnian, a representive of the
Ministry of Agriculture, said yesterday.
This will help developing nations better prepare for climate
change and promote global sustainable development, he told the
Asian Regional Workshop on Adaptation, sponsored by the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in
Beijing.
Yang's remarks echoed the latest call of the UNFCCC Executive
Secretary Yvo de Boer.
"Our current sources of funding are insufficient to cover these
adaptation needs," de Boer said on Friday. "So the international
community needs to investigate new and innovative sources of
finance in order to ensure that the most vulnerable communities are
able to cope."
The three-day meeting of experts is expected to identify
specific needs and concerns in Asia where scientists predict a
significant warming acceleration in the 21st century.
In China the trend will have a "mostly negative" impact and it
will continue to wreck havoc in the country's ecosystems and on
social and economic growth, Yang, the deputy chief of the
ministry's Department of Science, Technology and Education,
said.
For example, experts predict that crops in the plains of North
and Northeast China could face water-related challenges in coming
decades due to increases in water demands and soil-moisture
deficits, according to documents released at the workshop.
According to one report released last year, the country's grain
yield will be cut by 5 to 10 percent due to climate change.
"The reduction is equal to the annual grain productions of
Central China's Hunan and Hubei provinces which are China's key
crop-yield region," Li Yan, campaigner of Climate and Energy from
Greenpeace Beijing office, said.
In addition to launching rainwater harvesting projects, China
has pooled at least 20 billion yuan ($2.56 billion) since 1998 to
develop irrigation projects across the country, Yang said.
The country has also tried to take advantage of climate change
by implementing a northward shift of agricultural zones.
China's double planting regions have shifted northward by
three-degree latitude while the boundaries of wheat and corn have
expanded, according to ministry sources.
Ambassador Bagher Asadi, chair of the Subsidiary Body for
Implementation of UNFCCC, said yesterday that the meeting with
representatives from 30 countries and regions should lead to
practical recommendations on how the international community could
respond to adaptation gaps and needs in Asia.
(China Daily April 12, 2007)