Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Agriculture

Mitigation and adaptation are two principle strategies for managing human-induced climate change. Agriculture plays a duet role in climate change. It has been a major source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. It is also one of the sectors most vulnerable to the risks and impacts of global climate change. This paper first indentified the mitigative and adaptative options and potential in agriculture, then addressed the integrated analysis of mitigation and adaptation and its benefits for agriculture. Finally, it discussed the implications to Chinese agriculture in dealing with the global climate change.

China’s Climate Change Response in the Context of Global Change: from Domain Response to Mitigation and Adaptation then to Scientific and Technological Progress

Climate change has become one of the key issues affecting global society and economic development,and it is related to the sustainable development of mankind and the earth’s ecological system.Firstly,this research begins with the important international conferences and agreements on Global Climate Governance,and analyzes the recent progress of the Paris Agreement,the Marrakech climate conference and the major progress of China&US climate cooperation and China’s contribution.Secondly,from the perspective of China’s adaptation and response to climate change,the main progress of climate change in China is reviewed from a multi-level perspective.The main scientific and technological progress and achievements in China’s response to climate change have been tracked.Finally,from the environmental risk areas,the future risks of climate change are predicted from six aspects,to contribute to the scientific and technological support program for climate change governance.

Electricity Generation from Heatwaves

We chose a definition of heatwaves (HWs) that has ~4-year recurrence frequency at world hot spots. We first examined the 1940-2022 HWs climatology and trends in lifespan, severity, spatial extent, and recurrence frequency. HWs are becoming more frequent and more severe for extratropical mid- and low-latitudes. To euphemize HWs, we here propose a novel clean energy-tapping concept that utilizes the available nano-technology, micro-meteorology knowledge of temperature distribution within/without buildings, and radiative properties of earth atmosphere. The key points for a practical electricity generation scheme from HWs are defogging, insulation, and minimizing the absorption of infrared downward radiation at the cold legs of the thermoelectric generators. One sample realization is presented which, through relay with existing photovoltaic devices, provides all-day electricity supply sufficient for providing air conditioning requirement for a residence (~2000-watt throughput). The provision of power to air conditioning systems, usually imposes a significant stress on traditional city power grids during heatwaves.

DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF THE GREEN CLIMATE FUND

The Green Climate Fund （GCF） has been one of the core issues of the world climate summits under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change （UNFCCC） in recent years. However, the GCF has not progressed smoothly, and currently there are no satisfactory schemes for raising and distributing the fund. This paper first discusses how to finance the GCF among Annex II countries. It introduces the ＇preference score compromises＇ （PSC） approach which is based on environmental responsibility and economic capacity, with historical emissions as an indicator for environmental responsibility and GDP as indicator for economic capacity. The results show that the United States and the European Union are the two largest contributors to the GCF, sponsoring more than 80% of the funds. Second, we discuss how to allocate the funds among non-Annex II parties. The ＇adaptation needs＇ （AN） approach, which takes account of economic strength and climate damages, is proposed to achieve the adaptation purpose of the GCF, and the results reveal that African countries with high levels of climate vulnerability could get most funds, with a share of almost 30%. Regarding the mitigation purpose of the GCF, this research introduces two approaches： the ＇carbon reduction contribution＇ （CC） approach and the ＇incremental cost＇ （IC） approach. Both approaches could achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions in non-Annex II parties, whereas the latter may provide limited adaptation finance but result in more mitigation effects. This paper also develops a method to combine abatement efficiency and adaptation fairness of the GCF, and we find that with an equal split between the AN and CC （or AN and IC） approaches, the amount of USD 100 billion could finance an emissions reduction of 1613 MtCO2 （2477 MtCO2）, while allocating USD 16 （or USD 9） per capita for adaptation in non-Annex II parties. The schemes proposed may be useful for promoting the development of the GCF in the future.