Adapting to climate change in China: achievements and challenges

With millions of people dependent on natural resources and agriculture, China is very vulnerable to climate change. The need to adapt to future changes is gaining importance in the country’s political agenda. The government’s latest five-year plan, for example, is the first to include a section on adaptation, and the development of a national adaptation strategy is under way. But there are still major gaps in the knowledge and processes required to develop effective adaptation policies at national and local levels. This briefing describes some of the key challenges and explains how initiatives such as Adapting to Climate Change in China (ACCC) are addressing them.