Adaptation to Sea-level Rise in the People’s Republic of China – Assessing the Institutional Dimension of Alternative Organisational Frameworks

Global sea-levels are rising due to global warming. Major impacts on the world’s coasts are sand beach erosion, salination of ground water, and inundation. Adaptation is the only option to address these future threats as the mitigation of CO2 emissions is not capable of preventing sea-level rise. There are several organisational frameworks existing that can incorporate adaptation measures. Integrated Coastal Zone Management is proposed most often. Alternative frameworks are disaster management and sectoral frameworks involved in prevention activities, such as the water management that often holds responsibility for dike building. However, the integration of adaptation into an organisation framework is further dependent on institutional capacity within a political system. In order to illustrate what approach is feasible for a hierarchical political system the People’s Republic of China is taken as an example. An analysis of various frameworks and institutional responsibilities shows that the institutional dimension of organisation is decisive when seeking for an adequate framework to include adaptation to sea-level rise in. This paper is based on empirical results from a series of interviews and the analysis of official publications on frameworks and institutional responsibilities. It concludes with a recommendation on a climate change based framework.adaptation, sea-level rise, climate change, institutions, frameworks

Long-Term Sea Level Variability in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea

Using the satellite altimeter maps of sea level anomaly (MSLA) and tidal gauge data, this chapter gives an investigation of the long-term sea level variability (SLV) and sea level rise (SLR) rate in the Yellow Sea (YS) and East China Sea (ECS). Correlation analysis shows that the satellite altimeter is effective and capable of revealing the coastal SLV. To investigate the regional correlation of SLV in the YS and ECS, tidal gauge station data are used as references. Based on the monthly maps of correlation coefficient (CC) of SLV at tidal stations with the gridded MSLA data, we find that the existence of Kuroshio decreases the correlation between the coastal and Pacific sea levels. The empirical mode decomposition (EMD) method is applied to derive the SLR trend on each MSLA grid point in the YS and ECS. According to the two-dimensional geographical distribution of the SLR rate, one can see that the sea level on the eastern side of the Kuroshio mainstream rises faster than that on the western side. Both the YS and ECS SLR rates averaged over 1993–2010 are slower than the globally averaged SLR rate. This implies that although the SLV in the two seas is affected by global climate change, it could be mostly influenced by local effects

Climate change and security in Asia: issues and implications for Australia

Introduction The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has recently begun talking about the challenge of \u27climate security\u27, and former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that “Global climate change must take its place alongside the threats of conflict, poverty and the proliferation of deadly weapons that have traditionally monopolized first-order political attention”. Climate change poses clears risks to Australia\u27s interests in trade, aid and political stability in Asia. This not inconsiderable risk poses some complex challenges to Australian foreign policy. This paper explores the risks climate change poses to security in Asia and the options for Australian foreign policy. &nbsp

Addressing sea level rise in the People\u27s Republic of China and the United States: a comparative review of administrative and policy frameworks

Sea level rise (SLR) is directly influenced by climate change through the processes of temperature affecting the growth and decay of continental ice (Barron and Thompson 1990). It is a significant environmental challenge that threatens coastal areas of many nations throughout the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report issued in 2007 states that SLR poses a serious challenge to sustainable development along many coastal areas. The objectives of this thesis are to examine the SLR management issue both in the P.R.C. and the U.S, identify the government agencies that are concerned with SLR issues in the two countries and the specific programs that have been conducted by these agencies, analyze the key obstacles to managing risks associated with SLR, and recommend actions to address some of these challenges. The research methods include reviewing the monitoring efforts, laws, and administrative systems dealing with SLR in the U.S. and the P.R.C., surveying a panel of experts consisting of government agency administrators and researchers in the two countries, and performing vulnerability analysis through case studies of two significant coastal areas in the U.S. and the P.R.C. The research findings indicate that the SLR monitoring efforts of the two countries are very similar, both in terms of technology used and the density of monitoring stations along the coastlines. However, different stages of policy development related to SLR were evident, with the U.S. having established a more integrated federal and state-level policy framework for incorporating SLR issues into coastal planning through the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972. Currently, risk assessments and some planning activities similar to those conducted in the U.S. are being implemented or are under development by policy makers in the P.R.C.. The main obstacles reported by the experts in both countries to systematically incorporating SLR risks into coastal zone planning were limited budgets, public apathy and the presence of other pressing coastal management issues. Public education efforts designed to convey the potential risk of SLR to stakeholders of specific coastal communities, including possible socioeconomic and environmental consequences, would appear to be a logical strategy to address key reported obstacles to integration of SLR risks into long-term coastal planning

Major power and littoral states strategic interests in the Straits of Malacca

This paper presents an overview of the strategic and security issues surrounding the Straits of Malacca. It begins by introducing the strategic nature of the Straits of Malacca and piracy threat in the busy sea lane. Subsequently this paper discusses the issues and interests of the major powers in the Straits of Malacca historically. Furthermore this paper covers the contemporary Asia Pacific's powers such as United States, India, Japan and China. Then, the position of the three littoral states of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore towards the issue of piracy in the Straits of Malacca is touched upon before analysing the littoral states' position on external powers' involvement in the Straits of Malacca. This paper also briefly discusses the individual littoral states' interests in the vital sea lane

China\u27s domestic and international policies on global warming : explanations and assessment

Global warming and resulting climate change present the world with major and potentially devastating challenges. China is among the countries that will suffer the effects of climate change. Although its per captia emissions of pollutants causing global warming remain relatively low compared to the world’s richest countries, China is now the second largest global polluter, and in coming decades it will overtake the United States as the world’s largest polluter of the global atmosphere. How China responds to this problem has profound implications for its people, its neighbors and the world. China has joined with other countries in debating this issue, and it has started to implement programs and policies to reduce its emissions of so-called greenhouse gases. However, its domestic actions have rarely been motivated by concerns about the global impacts of climate change, and its response has been to avoid international regulation while waiting for the developed countries to act. Given this response, short of radical change in politics and environment, it is unlikely that China will adequately restrain its greenhouse gas emissions, thus mirroring—to the detriment if all—the industrialization and growth of the world’s wealthy countries

China’s foreign oil policy: genesis, deployment and selected effects

China is a rising global power with a growing role and impact on the world’s energy markets as well as on the Earth’s climate system. China pursues its development in an essentially non-confrontational manner, a vision encapsulated by the notion of peaceful rise which is viewed positively in the world’s major capitals. Nevertheless, China’s rapid growth represents a genuine global challenge and raises many questions. How is China dealing with its growing need for imported crude oil? What is the impact of China’s rise on the global oil market, notably in terms of oil price developments? Are Chinese actions on oil markets different from those of other major importers? What opportunities and risks arise as a result of china’s growing role on the global oil market from the viewpoint of other global players? In this report we seek to offer some answers to those questions with a review of China’s developing energy policy, of the actions and revealed preferences of its national oil companies, and of broader economic and geopolitical analyses of the impact of China’s growing oil consumption on other global players.Crude oil, energy security, oil security, China, foreign oil policy

Direct and indirect health impacts of climate change on the vulnerable elderly population in East China

The latest scientific advances on the impacts of climate change on the health of the elderly in East China were reviewed consulting peer-reviewed publications from 2000-2017. The direct impacts of climate change result from rising temperatures, heatwaves, and increases in the frequency of complex extreme weather events such as windstorms, floods, and droughts. The health and social consequences of these events are far-reaching, ranging from reduced labour productivity and heat-related deaths, through to direct physical injury during extreme weather events, the spread of infectious diseases, and mental health effects following widespread flooding or prolonged drought. Research has indicated that climate change will have the greatest impact on vulnerable groups of people, including the elderly population. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence, a lack of focus on vulnerable segments of the population (especially elderly), limited understanding of how health status will change in the future, and lack of acknowledgement of how different regions in China vary in terms of the consequences of climate change. The main risk in East China that climate change may exacerbate is flooding (sea level rise, coastal and riverine, flood risk). However in some regions of East China such as in the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hebei and Shandong the biggest climate change risk is considered to be drought. Main health risks linked to climate change are evident as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases (heat stroke, exhaustion, and asthma), often caused by interactions between heatwave episodes and concurrent poor air quality