China taps into global expertise in climate change battle against increasing floods and drought
- First overseas office for top pedigree climate adaptation experts opens in Beijing
- While much work has been done on mitigation, focus turns to adapting to changing circumstances of global warming
With droughts and floods occurring with increasing frequency in Chinese cities, Beijing has been taking active steps to tap foreign expertise in tackling climate change, most recently with the launch of the first regional office of the Dutch Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA).
Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Rotterdam-based GCA, said the China office would support scaled-up and transformative adaptation initiatives across Asia, and facilitate knowledge sharing and actions around the world.
“The request of the Chinese government is to use all existing expertise present on the globe to help and support the Chinese ambition to make that leap toward the future,” said Verkooijen.
Launched in 2018, the Global Centre on Adaptation is a managing partner of the Global Commission on Adaptation, spearheaded by former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva.
“We believe that mitigation and adaptation should go hand in hand, but in reality, much more [effort] has been focused on mitigating the impact of climate change,” Ban told the South China Morning Post.
