LiHua Zhou , J. Scott Hauger , Ning Liu , HuiLing Lu

1. Key Laboratory of Desert and Desertification, Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China

2. Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu, Hawaii 96815, USA

3. China Development Bank Qinghai Branch, Xining, Qinghai 810001, China

1 Introduction

Global climate change has evolved from a scientific problem into an economic and political issue of worldwide interest (Wu and Cheng, 2003; Wan, 2008).There is growing scientific evidence that global warming is primarily due to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, but natural factors are also contributing to climate change. The complexity of climate itself provides a basis for debate on the causes of global warming and the ways and means of its mitigation (Gong and Wang, 2002). Yet, measured increases in average global temperature and in the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases over the past 50 years are a reality and pose a potential threat to society, the economy, and the ecosystem, no matter what the cause and what the future trend of climate change will be (Maoet al., 2003; Ding and Sun, 2006).

Given that situation, it is to be expected that developed and developing countries have divergent views on climate change. They argue over who is most responsible for climate change acceleration, who should act in response, how to fairly allocate burdens among countries, and how to take a just, international approach (Nath and Behera, 2011). Developed countries fear that their less-developed counterparts are looking for a free ride. At the same time, developing nations assert that rich countries cannot deprive them of the right of development to the same level.

These divergent views represent different conceptual frameworks for understanding the problems of climate change, including the scientific and historical bases for a sound understanding of the situation and the most appropriate policies for working out solutions to the problem (Wang and Wei, 2008). There is a need to examine and delineate such frameworks and perceptions of climate change in order for different stakeholders to understand each other’s perspectives and ultimately to reach a consensus, suggesting comprehensive policies for international cooperation to address the problems of climate change.

China, one of the most important developing countries, has experienced spectacular economic growth over the last 30 years, including the development of energy structures and economic institutions that will be strongly affected by issues of climate change. By 2007, China surpassed the United States as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, 2007).Chinese perceptions of the causes of climate change and the prospects for greenhouse gas mitigation influence the articulation of its national interests with respect to sustainable development, environmental security, and the economy. They also impact China’s international policies in response to climate change.

In the years since the Fourth Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change in 2007,Chinese policies have consistently framed the problem of climate change as a development issue, where the U.S. and other Western nations have increasingly framed climate change as a security issue, with an emphasis on the environmental security of vulnerable populations and nations in Asia and Africa (Freeman,2010; U.S. Department of Defense, 2010).

These differences in perception were publicly highlighted in the United Nations Security Council debate of July 20, 2011, where members disagreed on whether the council should address the possible threats posed by rising sea levels and competition over water resources consequent to climate change.China’s Deputy Permanent Representative, Wang Min,argued that "Climate change could affect security, but it is fundamentally a sustainable development issue."He reiterated China’s position that "Common but differentiated responsibilities are necessary" to the global approach to mitigation (UN Security Council,2011). The Chinese position was mirrored in statements by most of the representatives of developing nations, while Western nations and small island states generally supported a role for the Security Council in addressing issues of climate change. As Paul Harris(2011) has pointed out, China has become a central actor in the practical and political aspects of the problem of climate change: "China’s domestic policy responses to the problem convey important signals that will influence the behavior of other national actors.Without China playing a major part in the efforts to curb GHG (greenhouse gas) pollution, notably through limitations on its future emissions, international efforts to mitigate global warming substantially will certainly fail."

Wang Min’s assertion that climate change is fundamentally a sustainable development issue represents a long-standing, core principle of Chinese national policy. China’s sustainable development policy framework was first articulated in 1993, in the strategic document, "China’s Agenda 21: White Paper on China’s Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century," consequent to the UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Rio Conference of 1992). It was more fully developed by the 2007 implementation plan of the National Development and Reform Commission, its Program for Action for Sustainable Development in China in the Early 21st Century. That plan presents a framework for sustainable development that considers economic development, social development, resource allocation and protection, ecological conservation and development,environmental protection and pollution control, and legal and information capacity building as priority areas for attention. The gist of the plan is that economic and social development of China are ultimately dependent on the efficient use and conservation of natural resources, requiring a foundation of environmental security supported by an appropriate legal and informational infrastructure. The sustainable development plan was followed a few months later by China’s National Climate Change Program (2007),which states as a first principle that "China will be guided by the following principles… To address climate change within the framework of sustainable development" (pp. 24).

Thus, China’s contemporary policies regarding climate change are the emerging product of knowledge creation at the intersection of not only climate science and environmental science, but also economics and social development. To a large extent,perhaps not fully appreciated in the West, they are informed by a solid base of domestic science and political knowledge as well as China’s engagement with the global science and policy communities. This paper will explore published Chinese views on the causes and mitigation of climate change with a focus on Chinese-language articles and journals, which are targeted at domestic audiences and therefore are not well known in the West. It will look at Chinese concerns about and perspectives on the causes and mitigation of climate change, as expressed by scholars,the government, and the public.

2 Climate change studies in China

Research on climate change in China began in the 1920s with Kezhen Zhu’s investigation of China’s historic climate (Zhu, 2010). By the mid-1980s, Duzheng Ye, recognizing the interaction of human and natural systems, recommended a systems approach to the study of climate change that would integrate the natural and social sciences. At the 20th General Assembly of the International Council of Scientific Unions in 1984, he presented a seminal paper entitled"Climatic Change: A Global and Multidisciplinary Theme," arguing that politics, economy, and diplomacy had a place in climate change research (Ye and Fu, 1984; Lin, 2002). The Chinese Institute of Atmospheric Physics recognized Academician Ye’s contributions to climate studies, pointing out that "…the close relation between the formerly independent studies in the fields of [global change] GC and sustainable development (SD)" is an enduring theme in the Chinese framework for climate policy (Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2007). Thus, for the last 30 years research on climate change in China has considered elements of economics, politics, philosophy,and law, in addition to traditional studies of climate trends and the causes and impacts of climate change.

2.1 Climate change studies in geography

Climate change studies in geography focus on the trends and causes of climate change and its impact on the environment. Available approaches to investigate climate trends include historic climosequence, laboratory and in-situ observations, and simulation of global climate patterns (Li and Chen, 1999), through which Zhu Kezhen established climosequences of the past 5,000 years, 2,000 years, 100 years, and 50 years(Wanget al., 2002; Zheng and Wang, 2005; Dinget al.,2007; Wanget al., 2007; Wang and Wei, 2008). Yao Tandong and colleagues worked on ice-core and tree-ring samples, suggesting particular climate histories (as described in Li and Chen, 1999). Additionally,two simulation models from China were adopted by the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (Dinget al., 2007).Temperature increases in China have been higher than the global average in the last century, with two distinct warm periods in the 1940s and 1980s. For the last 50 years China has experienced the same general warming trends as the rest of East Asia and the globe, as temperatures have been increasing, particularly in the north,especially the major warm decade of 1990s (Qinet al.,2005; Dinget al., 2006; Zhanget al., 2006).

Growing scientific evidence supports the credibility of global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions (Sunet al., 2002; Qinet al., 2007; Zhaoet al.,2007), particularly the basic fact of observed warming over the last 50 to 100 years in China. Yet, some Chinese scholars are still concerned about the impossibility of completely differentiating the effects of natural and human factors in the observed climate change (Wei, 1997; Wang and Gong, 2001; Gong and Wang, 2002). Wang and Zhao (1995) argued that solar activities and volcanic emissions could cool the climate over the next 50 years and abate warming caused by greenhouse gases, based on an investigation of the long-term variation of solar and volcanic activities (Wang, 1993). Wei’s study (1997) on paleoclimate records from drilled cores from a salt lake in Inner Mongolia also showed that greenhouse gas was just one factor, not the primary factor, in historical climate warming.

Another recent study to calculate the factors contributing to warming in China during the 20th century,based on 23 models from the fourth IPCC assessment report, indicated that anthropogenic factors are insufficient to account for observed temperatures and that natural factors like solar activities, volcanic eruptions,and air-sea interactions have also contributed to climate change in China in the latter half of the 20th century (Dinget al., 2007; Zhou and Zhao, 2007).Chinese scientists agree that current warming cannot be completely ascribed to anthropogenic activities.

Based on their investigation of patterns of oxygen isotopic ratios in peat cellulose, Honget al. (1998)claimed that cyclic patterns of solar radiation alone could result in higher global average surface temperatures through the middle of the next century, reaching a peak around the years 2050–2100. On the other hand, Wang and colleagues argued that variations in solar activity have not always been synchronous with climate change, and that the combined effects of variable solar radiation and volcanic emissions of sulfate aerosols have reduced the warming impacts of human activities (Wang, 1991; Wang and Ye, 1995; Wang and Zhao, 1995). Other studies concluded that average annual total cloud cover decreased, while water vapor, sulfate aerosols, black-carbon aerosols, and the aerosol optical depth of the atmosphere remarkably increased during the last 50 years in the wake of increasing temperatures (Wei, 1997; Ren, 2003a,b;Dinget al., 2007). At the same time, Shi (1996) found a conspicuous effect on climate change from large volcanic eruptions.

There is a consensus among researchers that the last 20 years of global warming is primarily due to greenhouse gas emissions. However, quasi-periodic fluctuations of natural factors, including changes in solar activity and volcanic eruptions, also contribute to measured variations in global temperature (Shi,1996; Qinet al., 2005; Dinget al., 2006).

Many scholars have realized that, over the long term, climate change will impact husbandry, ecosystems, water resources, and the economic and social development of coastal zones (Lanet al., 2009; Zhouet al., 2010). Studies have analyzed the effects of climate change by observation, experiments, and data simulation. There is agreement that climate change could increase the instability of agricultural production and water resources, that spatial patterns of terrestrial ecosystems could be changed, and that the risks of natural disasters and deterioration of ecological environments in coastal zones might be aggravated (Linet al., 2006; Xue, 2012). In short, the impacts of climate change in China are expected to be complex, although some of the impact factors of climate change are still uncertain.

2.2 Climate change studies in politics

As Qiet al. (2007) have said, climate change policy in China is related to the national strategy of sustainable development as well as considerations of international cooperation in environmental conservation. For the past two decades, both the central government and academia in China have focused on international pressures for a global treaty on emission reduction, with a policy of "common but different responsibilities" (Heet al., 2001; Wang, 2010; Xie, 2010). However, some scholars have focused their attention on the prerequisite factors for China to commit to international cooperative negotiations to mitigate climate change.

For example, Zhang (2007) have argued that, in the short term, joint accession to the Kyoto Protocol by China and the U.S. would be in the U.S.’s interest,but not China’s. On the other hand, strengthened technology cooperation between the two giants, such as through the Asia Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate, would lead to some tangible benefits to both. Exploring the relations between China and the EU in climate change, Fuet al. (2008) pointed out that while the EU played the role of leader in crafting the Kyoto Protocol, China acted as an active but wary participant. Since accepting the Kyoto Protocol,however, China and the EU have interacted frequently and actively with common benefits, although policy differences still exist (Bo and Chen, 2009).

Rong (2010) found that mitigation capability was the factor most affecting the negotiating stance of five major developing countries, including China. He proposed that effective international financial and technology transfer mechanisms may work better to bring developing countries onboard than tightened emission reduction targets. However, Zhuang (2007a)argued that current global technology transfer was limited, as was technology transfer to China through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) established by the Kyoto Protocol. Mao and Li (2007)maintained that developed countries should freely transfer technology and patents to developing countries to address climate change, and that the costs involved should be funded by international organizations, while noting that a more powerful regime is needed to work out the problem.

Some Chinese scholars have argued that China’s way forward is to adhere to the principles expressed in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), with appropriate weight given to adaptation, abatement, and development. For example, He and his colleagues(2006; 2007) believed China should emphasize that countries in different stages of development should implement different rules and features of energy consumption, while enhancing technology transfer and international technical cooperation. A transformative growth model, an upgraded national economy structure, and improved quality and efficiency of development should be the dominant approaches to decreasing energy intensity and carbon emissions, coupled with a vigorous increase of efficiency in energy conversion and utilization (Chenet al., 2005; Linet al., 2006; Heet al.,2007). Heet al. (2006) proposed an allocation regime of equal per-capita emissions. In the course of transition, per-capita emissions in developing countries might first rise and then decline over time.

Mitigation policies proposed by Chinese scholars include (1) enhancing a national, integrated capability to address climate change through a combination of greenhouse gas mitigation and national and local sustainable development strategies based on a roadmap for socioeconomic growth (Chenet al., 2005; Linet al., 2006; Heet al., 2007); (2) setting future targets and action plans for emission reduction that reorganize the industrial infrastructure, optimize the energy infrastructure, and advance energy conservation (Heet al., 2006; Linet al., 2006); (3) adhering to principles negotiated in international treaties, while actively but warily committing to treaties on emission reduction or restriction (Huang, 2008); and (4) deepening surveillance and research on climate change with programs to raise public awareness regarding climate change problems and policies.

2.3 Climate change studies in economics

Climate change studies related to economics address the economic impacts of climate change, the relationships between low-carbon economies and sus-tainable development, and optimizing energy strategies within the context of climate change. From an economic perspective, costs and benefits can be projected for adaptation to or abatement of climate change. Adaptive costs, including the cost to adapt to climate change and the opportunity costs of investments not pursued, represent expenditures without an increase in income (Chen, 2000). Abatement costs may exceed their benefits and have a negative influence on GDP growth, due to the divergent impacts of climate change on different countries (Mao and Li,2007). Zhuang (2007a) found that the relationship of per-capita emissions of greenhouse gases and GDP per capita is an inverted "U"-shaped curve, and that China is in the climbing stage of the curve, providing controversial evidence for policy regarding China’s greenhouse gas emissions.

According to a study, carbon dioxide emissions"embodied" in the Chinese manufacture of export goods destined for foreign consumers was 10%–27%of China’s total annual emissions, while carbon dioxide embodied in Chinese imports only accounted for 4%-9% during 1997-2007 (He and Su, 2002). China could, and for the sake of its own welfare actually should, commit to a significant carbon dioxide reduction, but carbon dioxide cuts are projected to harm poor rural households more than other groups (Vennemoet al., 2009). Although there are some opportunities for relatively low-cost emission reductions for China in the future, emission limits similar to the Kyoto Protocol would seriously impede future economic development (Wanget al., 2009). As a result,Tian and Whalley (2010) argue that only a financial transfer of not less than 3% of GDP from the developed to developing countries like China would compensate their loss and bring them on board a reduction agreement. Obviously, external incentives for China to commit to a reduction treaty are limited, and the benefit from positive reduction policies for China seems similarly limited.

Cao and Cao (1997) explored emissions-cutting measures and found that institutional measures such as a carbon tax, emission permits, and trade permits would otherwise be practical, but they became impractical when the costs of institution, information and trade were figured in. Pan (2003) has advocated a"No Regrets" policy that enterprises and governments could adopt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the sake of energy conservation and environmental protection in the absence of policies to mitigate climate change.

Xu and He (2002) investigated the principle of equity for climate change, concluding that China should pursue high-efficiency energy systems based on the equity principle. Because the most significant problem is equity in the initial allocation of emission rights, China should be prudent in climate-related negotiations, and defend its national interests (Zhuet al.,1998; Heet al., 2004).

Another concept associated with climate change is that of a "low-carbon economy," put forward initially by the UK Secretary of State for Trade and Industry(2003). A low-carbon economy seeks to create more goods and services with less natural resource consumption or carbon release by improving resource productivity (Zhuang, 2007b; Jin, 2009). The National Assessment Report of Climate Change issued by China in 2006 explicitly endorsed a low-carbon economy as a national goal (Deng, 2008). Fuet al.(2008) argued that it is urgent for China to develop a low-carbon economy to address the need to reduce emissions, achieve energy security, and enhance environmental conservation. However, a low-carbon economy will be hard to achieve in China, given the current situation, which includes high fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions due to its energy-intensive industrial plants and the international transfer of emissions caused by low-end industries and China’s export trade structure (Jin, 2009). Zhuang’s calculation (2007b), extrapolated from the Chinese GDP of 2006, suggested that the expected return for China from a global carbon market would be considerably less than that suggested by the Stern Review of that year, meaning that current market structures do not inspire emission reductions (Stern, 2007).

However, to achieve sustainable development,China must launch a low-carbon economy. Jin (2009)also discerned potential advantages for China to rationally pursue a low-carbon economy. Chinese scholars share a broad consensus on how to launch a low-carbon economy, in contrast with their debates on whether to launch it. The starting point should be a global compact or strategy for sustainable development which is grounded on principles of equity, sustainability, and intercommunity partnership (Lian,1997). Within that framework, China should evaluate its obligations and responsibilities to reduce emissions consistent with its national interests (Lian, 1997; Qin,2007; Fuet al., 2008; Hu, 2010). Then a low-carbon economy should be pursued, based on a review of current patterns of growth at the national strategic level (Fuet al., 2008; Jin, 2009). Finally, the energy and industrial sectors will need to be upgraded to achieve sustainable development as China moves from a black to a green economy (Deng, 2008; Jin,2009; Zhuet al., 2009; Hu, 2010).

The principal means of reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration must be the reduction of emissions from the consumption of fossil fuels, with some role for increasing the terrestrial carbon sink,such as through reforestation (Zhao, 2000). Studies show that carbon dioxide, the dominant greenhouse gas, contributes about 63% of the total greenhouse effect worldwide, mainly from fossil fuel consumption (Zhao, 2000; Qin, 2007). It is further estimated that 90% of atmospheric sulfur dioxide and 85% of carbon dioxide are released by fossil fuel consumption (Chen and Porter, 2000). Consequently, the structure and efficiency of energy production are critical to the mitigation of climate change in China.Zhang (2010) observed that China can no longer afford and will not allow economic growth at the current high cost of environmental degradation. Hence,China should transform its economy to effectively address the burning of fossil fuels and importing oil in order to fight both pollution and climate change.

These results can be achieved by improving the efficiency of energy conversion and utilization, and by the substitution of low-carbon fuels or renewable energy for coal (He and Su, 2002). Additionally, Chen and Porter (2000) explored the conditions for energy conservation in China, finding that the ongoing transition from a command economy to a more hybrid market-socialist economy imposes constraints on energy conversion, although it may offer opportunities for energy conservation in the long term. In short,energy policy in China is influenced by a complex mix of economic and political considerations as well as international pressures to reduce carbon emissions.

2.4 Climate change studies in sociology

Against the background of global warming, a variety of potential threats to human society is posed by climate risks and could become a serious challenge to human security. Among them, the impact of climate change on human health has been widely considered.

Research by Chinese scholars shows that the potential direct or indirect impacts of climate change on human health are various, and that the negative effects of climate change will likely be greater than its positive effects. Direct effects include disease or death caused by extreme weather or temperature events.Indirect effects mainly include malnutrition due to reductions in food supplies consequent to climate change, an increase of infectious diseases and mental illness due to natural disasters and population migration, and respiratory infections as a result of poor air quality (Changet al., 2012). Some studies show that China’s current public health system lacks the ability to deal with various possible events caused by climate change, and that it is unable to process and respond to mass problems such as a major public health event caused by an extreme climate event (Kan, 2010).

Another social phenomenon of growing concern is climate migration. For example, Cao and Chen (2013)think that, with the change of global weather patterns,extremely volatile climate is giving rise to a significant number of "climate migrants" who have had to move from one place to another to sustain their livelihoods. Those researchers recommend strengthening international cooperation, both for slowing down and adapting to climate change, and establishing migration policies, governance mechanisms, and management institutions while reducing climate migrants’social vulnerability.

3 Strategies to cope with climate change in China

With expanding academic research on climate change, the understanding and awareness of the Chinese government and the public regarding climate change are gradually deepening. Based on this, the government and the public have put forward a series of measures to address climate change, which mainly include mitigation strategies and adaptation countermeasures.

3.1 Government’s strategies to cope with climate change

Within the Chinese government, awareness of the problems of climate change has gradually increased.In the past, climate change policy was not a high priority, especially at the local government level. Policy evolution within the central government has been largely a response to international pressure (Qiet al.,2007). More recently, issues of sustainable economic growth and growing concerns and pressure over greenhouse gas emissions from the international community have sparked China’s determination and ambition to take real action on climate change, resulting in a series of comprehensive policy frameworks,incorporating the accumulating scientific evidence developed and provided by domestic academia, as reported above.

While funding a broad range of significant studies on climate change, coupled with an increase in climate-related research fields since the Seventh Five-Year Plan (Maoet al., 2003), China has successively enacted eight targeted laws, including the Environmental Protection Law, and 19 acts referring to energy savings, such as the Energy Conservation Law.As of 2010, China had implemented 50 regulations,660 corresponding rules (ministries and local governments), 800 national standards, and 10 military regulations aimed at climate, resource, and environmental protection, which comprise a Chinese climate policy framework (Gu, 2010). The government also ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1998 and the Kyoto Protocol in 2008 (Jin, 2009), and promulgated a National Climate Change Program and a General Work Plan for Energy Conservation and Pollutant Discharge Reduction in 2007 (Zhuang, 2007a; Huang, 2008). Additionally,the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC) imposed accountability and a one-ballot veto regime in the Implementation Plan of the Evaluation System of Energy Consumption per Unit GDP (Heet al., 2004). A resolution of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Making Active Responses to Climate Change was ratified in 2009(Wang, 2010). At the Copenhagen Conference, the government committed that, by 2020, carbon dioxide emission per unit of GDP will decrease by 40%-45%from the levels of 2005 (Gu, 2010; Hu, 2010).

In 2011, four of the 11th National People’s Congress meetings examined and approved the Twelfth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development. Response to climate change was formally incorporated into the mid-term and long-term national economic and social development programs.In order to implement the task of tackling climate change in the twelfth five-year period, the Chinese State Council issued the Work Plan for Greenhouse Gas Emission Control during the 12th Five-Year Plan Period, the Comprehensive Working Program for Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction in the 12th Five-Year Plan Period, and a series of important policy documents with the purpose of strengthening guidance for the work of dealing with climate change.The main measures to mitigate climate change include optimizing industry structure and energy structure,saving energy and reducing consumption, and vigorously working to increase carbon sinks.

Even so, most policies on climate change in China have not yet been incorporated into the text of laws,so that national power to implement such policies is sometimes absent and problems are inevitable in practical operations. Furthermore, some local authorities emphasize local economic goals and immediate interests at the expense of sustainable development and long-term interests, in spite of national goals and international obligations.

3.2 Public perceptions and their strategies to cope with climate change

In China, the public’s perceptions of climate change are based on information provided by government, media, and non-governmental organizations(NGOs). A recent poll showed that the public ranks climate change as the fourth most important environmental issue after air quality, garbage disposal, and sewage treatment. Seventy-seven percent of respondents had no idea about the Kyoto Protocol (He, 2010).On the other hand, 70% of the public expressed concerns about climate change, and 83% favored practical action to abate climate change. Withal, 72% of the public ascribed primary responsibility to address climate change to the government, and 74% approved the performance of the government in this regard.

As for channels of information about climate change, 87% of the public cited television, while 48%reported newspapers as their source. The government was seen as the most reliable source for information on climate change, gaining 62% of votes; other rankings were 8%, 13%, 10%, and 2% for official research institutes, environmental groups, media, and scholars,respectively.

The public also reckoned it was the government that must undertake the main burden of mitigation of climate change. Only 11% of the public recognized the role of NGOs in climate change mitigation, and only 7% saw a role for individuals and 5% for enterprises (He, 2010). This apparent ignorance or avoidance of individual and business responsibility for addressing the problems of mitigation would seem to represent a failure of public policy. This provides a warning for media and academia to improve their public communications on issues of climate change.

In 2007 a report entitled "China’s Scientific &Technological Actions on Climate Change" was published by 14 departments of the Chinese government(Chinese Ministry of Science and Technologyet al.,2007). The report acknowledged the need for better communication between government, media, enterprises, and the public, and recommended that the topic of climate change should be an important component of all science popularization activities. It also recommended that the mass media should become an effective way to provide public guidance from the government, to call for actions by enterprises, and to increase public awareness of climate change.

That same year, eight NGOs operating in China initiated a project called the Chinese Civil Society’s Response to Climate Change to raise the level of public awareness of climate change and to develop common positions and strategies. Members of the Chinese Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change included Action Aid China, Friends of Nature, Global Village Beijing, Green Earth Volunteers, Greenpeace, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, Oxfam Hong Kong, and the World Wide Fund for Nature China (WWF). Prior to the Copenhagen Conference(COP-15) in December 2009, the coalition released a document, "Chinese Civil Society on Climate Change(2009)." In addition to its endorsement of the Chinese position of "common but differentiated responsibility"in international negotiations, the document called on China to take the lead among developing countries in combating climate change, and to minimize negative impacts on society and the environment while pursuing the path of sustainable development. It called upon the Chinese government to "… encourage the public and NGOs to participate in policy-making pro-cesses and to monitor implementation processes."

More recently, in a network survey from November 20, 2012 to February 20, 2012, Yuet al. (2012)investigated public attitudes to climate change in 30 provinces in China. Research showed that most respondents were aware of climate change and paid attention to it. People have faith in the government’s response to climate change, but most of them take a wait-and-see attitude. Chinese youth are willing to take positive action and change their behavior in response to climate change, and it is generally believed that fiscal and taxation policies in China are effective policy measures to address climate change. People’s strategies for addressing climate change include developing new agricultural genetic stocks, adjustment of agricultural structures, changing irrigation methods in agriculture, recycling the waste in production, reducing water consumption, and changing lifestyles and livelihoods in daily life.

4 Discussion

Since the mid-1980s, the Chinese research enterprise has addressed a broad range of topics in climate science, environmental science, politics, economy and diplomacy as component aspects of the problem of climate change. As represented by the studies cited in this paper, there has been a robust set of investigations and Chinese-language publications in these areas. The themes and issues developed by this research have provided a knowledge base that, together with China’s engagement with the international research community,has informed Chinese policy with respect to mitigation,adaptation, and response to climate change.

In June, 2007 the Chinese government published an important inter-agency review that assessed the past and recommended a future course for the development and application of scientific knowledge to the problems of climate change (Chinese Ministry of Science and Technologyet al., 2007). The report acknowledged that climate change research had become an important, leading-edge discipline in China,providing support to both internal and international policy making. It identified an urgent need to improve both human resources and infrastructure for climate-related R&D in order to improve policy support and to enhance China’s international status in the field.The report called for greater participation by Chinese scientists, research institutions, and enterprises in international programs for research and technology development related to climate change, and it urged Chinese scientists and government officials to compete for senior positions in international organizations.The report also identified a need for public education on climate change and called for the establishment of a broad national program of outreach from the research community to the media, educational institutions, and the urban and rural public.

Chinese policies addressing climate change have been consistent with more than 25 years of multidisciplinary Chinese research and with a primary national interest in economic development. Although free of citations to individual research papers, the State Council’s "White Paper: China’s Policies and Actions on Climate Change" begins with a review of research findings on the causes and trends of climate change and its current and future impacts on China, as the knowledge base for policy development for mitigation and adaptation. While recognizing that climate change will have far-reaching impacts on society and in agriculture, forestry, water resources, and coastal zones,the State Council emphasizes a policy "to address climate change within the framework of sustainable development," explaining, "Climate change arises out of development, and should thus be solved along with development."

This perspective is reflected in the major Chinese policy documents on climate change cited above, and it was reiterated by the Chinese delegation in the July,2011 UN Security Council debate. It is consistent with Chinese interests in economic development and in increasing the prosperity of its citizens, but it is not an adhoc response to competing Western perspectives and interests. Nor is it simply a reactive position to the international politics of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its protocols. Rather, it is a conceptual framework that draws upon more than 25 years of multidisciplinary research,exemplified by Ye and Fu’s influential 1984 paper(Ye and Fu, 1984), which predated the UNFCCC by eight years.

In its 2009 progress report to the State Council on policies and actions for addressing climate change,China’s National Development and Reform Commission began by stating, "Climate change issues, as a grave challenge to the sustainable development of the human society, have received ever greater attention from the international community." It continues, "China advocates joint and coordinated efforts of the international community to tackle climate change, and has made positive efforts in this regard." In order for different stakeholders to understand each other’s perspectives and ultimately to find a basis for "joint and coordinated" efforts to address the global problems of climate change, there is a need to examine the knowledge frameworks and perceptions that frame the parties’understanding of those problems. Chinese perceptions and understanding of climate change rest upon a long-standing process of knowledge development by the research community through multidisciplinary research as published in Chinese-language journals. The policy positions articulated by the State Council, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and other agencies have been informed by that research. In international meetings and debates, China’s framing of climate change, as a problem in sustainable development is, at least in part, a reflection of that internal dialogue between the research and policy communities.

This research was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China (No. 2013CB956003), the 100 Talents Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the 2010 "Western Light" Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Key Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZZD-EW-04-05).

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