A total of 8 Proposals submitted! CBCGDF Climate Change Working Group Advised on Action Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change in Anhui

 

The Department of Ecology and Environment of Anhui Province has recently issued a notice of public consultation on the Action Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change in Anhui Province, openly soliciting opinions and suggestions from all walks of life. The Climate Change Working Group of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) responded positively to the call and, after careful discussion and research, put forward the following recommendations for reference in scientific decision-making.

Recommendation 1:
Add the relevant content of "establishing a mechanism for sharing and docking climate monitoring information between provinces, especially neighboring provinces".

[Reasons] With the intensification of climate change, large-scale meteorological activities across provincial boundaries will further increase. The establishment of a mechanism for sharing and docking of climate monitoring information between provinces, especially neighboring provinces, can reduce the cost of climate monitoring and improve the efficiency of monitoring, so that the data of multiple provinces can be mutually corroborated, which is conducive to the discovery of omens and patterns of large-scale meteorological activities, and can help to construct a mechanism for inter-provincial and regional cooperation in preventing meteorological disasters, such as extreme weather events.

Recommendation 2:
In addition to financial institutions, it is recommended that financing entities such as listed companies and debt issuers should also be encouraged and guided to carry out climate and environmental information disclosure.

[Reasons] The National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2035, in Chapter 5, Section 5, "Preventing Climate-Related Financial Risks", explicitly states that it "promotes the disclosure of climate and environmental information by listed companies and debt issuers in accordance with the law". Through the establishment of a mechanism for the disclosure of climate and environmental information by financing entities, it is possible to promote the active concern and attention of all sectors of the society to the concepts related to climate change, facilitate the relevant publicity and mobilization of science and technology as stated in "IV (4)" of the Program, and effectively help financial institutions to grasp the environmental information of debtors in a timely manner, so as to effectively reduce the climate-related financial risks. financial risks.

Recommendation 3:
Ensure that the use of funds is "in line with the purpose of climate change adaptation and development in the province" when "actively seeking grants and preferential loans from international financial organizations and foreign governments".

Reasons] Some of the grants and preferential loans from international financial organizations and foreign governments will have other conditions attached to them, which are conducive to the development and construction of climate change adaptation projects, but we need to guard against factors that are not conducive to the work of other parties (e.g., national security, confidentiality of information, and ancillary non-climate change adaptation projects, etc.).

Recommendation 4:
Join the "international cooperation" related programs, such as the construction of climate change friendly city relationship, etc.

[Reasons] With reference to the spirit of "Deepening Cooperation" in Chapter 7, Section 5 of the National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2035, actively promote the construction of exchange and cooperation mechanisms for climate change adaptation in the region, so as to realize the mutual learning of experience and complementarity of advantages, especially the construction of a cooperation mechanism with developing countries that are more sensitive to climate change and continue to accelerate the pace of adaptation. In particular, it should build cooperative relationships with developing countries that are "more sensitive to climate change and continue to accelerate the pace of adaptation".

Recommendation 5:
Change "Strengthen ecological repair in mining areas" to "Strengthen ecological restoration in mining areas".

Reasons: "Repair" and "restoration" both relate to ecological processes, but they are two different concepts. If they are used incorrectly, they may lead to the opposite result of seeking fish out of wood, spending a lot of money on "restoration" but violating the way of nature. Specifically, Ecological Repair: This term usually describes human repair of damaged or destroyed ecosystems, with more emphasis on human intervention. Ecological Restoration: This term emphasizes the use of natural solutions to restore ecological health. Repair" emphasizes human intervention and improvements in the restoration process, while "restoration" emphasizes natural processes and the ability of systems to self-regulate.

Recommendation 6:
Include benthic species in aquatic ecological surveys and protection

[Reasons]

1. Benthic species have long been neglected as an important measure of aquatic ecological health. In our past research, we have often found various projects and practices destroying aquatic biodiversity and natural habitats in the name of "ecological management of rivers and lakes". One of the important reasons is that benthic species are not included in "ecological management".

2. Policies and regulations based on: June 2023, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Water Resources, four ministries and commissions jointly issued and implemented the "Yangtze River Basin Water Ecology Assessment Indicator Scoring Rules (Trial)", clearly put forward in 2022-2024 in the Yangtze River Basin, 17 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government) to carry out water ecological assessment pilot. The scoring rules are categorized according to rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Among them, there are 10 indicators for rivers and 11 indicators for lakes, and the number of benthic animal species is included in the assessment indicators for rivers and lakes. Therefore, it is recommended that the regulation of Anhui explicitly incorporate the content on benthic organisms in the chapter related to water ecology.

Recommendation 7:
Add the content of "allergy prevention" to the section on "Strengthening health protection capacity against climate change".

[Reasons]: When planning climate adaptation strategies, it is recommended that green urban planning and early warning systems be included from the perspective of preventing public allergies. Therefore, it is proposed to include in this paragraph: 1) promoting urban greening and landscape design with greater consideration of native plants and biodiversity, and 2) establishing a meteorological and allergen monitoring system to provide real-time information to the public to help allergy sufferers to take necessary preventive measures. This could include providing pollen season forecasts, air quality indices and advice on avoiding pollen allergens.

Recommendation 8:
To add "Reduce the use of single-use plastics and enhance the level of plastic pollution control".

[Reasons] Currently, the word "plastic" appears 0 times in the full text of the exposure draft. Plastic pollution control is an important element of climate governance. A city needs to consider plastic pollution control when planning climate adaptation strategies, because plastic pollution not only has a negative impact on the environment, but is also closely related to climate change. Effective plastic pollution control can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve the city's climate resistance and mitigate the negative impacts of climate change.

In addition, plastic pollution management is also an important part of urban disaster prevention and mitigation. For example, in 2017, 740,000 square meters of lakeside wetlands in Chaohu Lake, Anhui Province, became a garbage dump; in September this year, Hefei, Anhui Province, torrential rains on Guizhi Road were so waterlogged that it led to the flooding of private cars that stalled and broke down. …… It is safe to say that plastic waste may trigger flooding and risk during extreme meteorological events, and thus cities need to consider climate adaptation and plastic pollution management to ensure urban sustainability and ecological balance. Therefore, it is recommended to include content on plastic pollution management in the Anhui Province Action Program for Climate Change Adaptation.

(Note: The proposals above were submitted on October 18, 2023. And most of this English article is based on machine translation for reference.)

Translator：Littlejane

Editor: Samantha

Contact: V10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776

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