Integration of climate change considerations into environmental ...

Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 2013, 7(4): 598–607 DOI 10.1007/s11783-013-0496-1

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Integration of climate change considerations into environmental impact assessment — implementation, problems and recommendations for China I-Shin CHANG1, Jing WU (✉)2 1 College of Environment and Resources, Inner Mongolia University, Huhhot 010021, China 2 College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, China

© Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Abstract Climate change plays an important role in affecting and altering the course of human development. So far, there have been no effective and efficient techniques to directly quantify the influences of climate change on human development, but there have been rough estimation and qualitative description of the effects. Since the 1990s, climate change considerations have been required to be included in environmental impact assessment, which is a flexible institutional framework of environmental risk evaluation and management. However, there have been no concrete achievements demonstrated. The purpose of this study was first to summarise the practical experience and to disclose the existing problems during the implementation of the process of integrating climate change considerations into environmental impact assessment in China through a case study. Currently in China, the practice of integrating climate change considerations into environmental impact assessment is mainly concentrated on the strategic environmental assessment level. The influences of climate change were identified as energy consumption, greenhouse gases emission, and the restraint of development under abnormal or extreme weather or climate conditions. Because of a lack of related technical guidelines and practical experience, the climate change considerations that have been selected and the evaluation methods that have been applied are quite different. Recommendations on policies, laws, and institutional regulations institution are proposed to better utilise environmental impact assessment to integrate climate change considerations into economic, social, and environmental decisions and actions. Keywords climate change considerations, environmental Received June 23, 2011; accepted February 8, 2013 E-mail: [email protected]

impact assessment, energy consumption, greenhouse gases, low carbon

1

Introduction

Climate change has generated significant and irreversible impacts on human survival and development since the early 1990s. In order to respond to climate change, a great deal of efforts and actions have been taken to mitigate or adapt to climate change worldwide. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an important environmental management scheme for environmental risk assessment and management. Therefore, in order to more effectively evaluate the risks induced by climate change, there is a consensus on the importance of integrating mitigation and adaptation to climate change into EIA internationally [1,2]. It was indicated in Article 4: Commitments, of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): “All Parties, taking into account their common but differentiated responsibilities and their specific national and regional development priorities, objectives and circumstances, shall take climate change considerations into account, to the extent feasible, in their relevant social, economic, and environmental policies and actions, and employ appropriate methods, for example impact assessments, formulated and determined nationally, with a view to minimizing adverse effects on the economy, on public health and on the quality of the environment, of projects or measures undertaken by them to mitigate or adapt to climate change” [3]. In addition, it was stated in the Directive 2001/42/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Assessment of the Effects of Certain Plans and Programmes on the Environment: “Where an assessment is required by this Directive, an environmental report should be prepared containing relevant information as set out in this Directive, identifying, describing and

I-Shin CHANG et al. Integration of climate change considerations into EIA

evaluating the likely significant environmental effects of implementing the plan or programme, and reasonable alternatives taking into account the objectives and the geographical scope of the plan or programme. … the likely significant effects on the environment, including on issues such as biodiversity, population, human health, fauna, flora, soil, water, air, climatic factors, material assets, cultural heritage including architectural and archaeological heritage, landscape and the interrelationship between the above factors” [4]. Recently, the European Union (EU) has focused on the need for developing guidelines and best practices for integrating climate change into EIA, strategic environmental assessment (SEA), and spatial policies [5]. Moreover, as asserted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the climate change response should be effectively integrated into development activities, and EIA has provide an appropriate entry point for the integration of climate change mitigation and adaptation into plans and projects [6]. Additionally, it was pointed out by the Strategic Environmental Assessment and Adaptation to Climate Change in October 2008, a supplement to the OECD DAC Good Practice Guidance on Strategic Environmental Assessment promulgated by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD: “At a national level, a SEA may help to identify elements of national Policy, Plan and Program (PPPs) that are sensitive to or at risk from climate change, or whose viability in the context of projected future climatic conditions is in question. At a sectoral level, climate change considerations within an SEA might be used to assess strategies for sectoral reform to identify which strategies are, and which are not, resilient under different climate change scenarios, or to identify where adaptation interventions will be required to enhance the resilience of the sector in the face of climate change” [7]. Lately, recommendations on how to integrate climate change considerations (CCCs) into EIA and SEA were proposed in the relevant handbooks and guidelines published by many countries, for example, the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1998, China, the largest developing country in the world and an UNFCCC contracting party, founded the National Coordination Committee on Climate Change to institute China’s National Programme to Address Climate Change, in responding to the climate change issue. In addition, in 2009, the Chinese government explicitly proposed to reduce the intensity of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020 by 40%–45%, compared with the level in 2005. This action is voluntarily taken by the Chinese government based on Chinese national conditions. Furthermore, this proposal has become a mandatory index to be included in the “12th Five-Year Plan” and subsequent mid- and longterm national economic and social development plans [8,9]. Currently in China, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Response to Climate Change is being drafted

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and laws and regulations concerning the response to climate change are being amended by related departments [10]. It is an immense challenge for the governments and decision-makers at all levels to integrate mitigation and adaptation to climate change into economic and social development and to encourage participation from the governments, the enterprises, the public and all kinds of organisations. EIA, introduced from the United States in the mid1970s, is an important environmental management scheme in China. After more than 30 years of practice, EIA has become the guarantee to ensure that comprehensive considerations of economic, social and environmental development are well integrated into the decision-making process [11]. With the broadening of environmental management, the content of EIA is continuously enriching and expanding, such as from pollutants concentration control to total emission control, from end-of-pipe treatment to cleaner production and circular economy, and from project EIA to regional environmental assessment (REA) and SEA. During the transformation and progress of environmental protection work, EIA has become an effective means for optimising economic growth while environmental protection is implemented, because of the flexibility, openness, scientific validity and practicability of EIA. Using practical experience from China, this study aims to explore the implementation of a framework and technical measures to integrate CCCs into EIA in China and to propose the appropriate policies, laws and regulations to further promote the integration of CCCs into EIA.

2

Methodology

In China, the development of EIA applications was from bottom to top (for example, from project to plan, then to policy). Project EIA was first implemented in the late 1970s. Plan EIA was promoted as the mandatory requirement in 2002, according to the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Environmental Impact Assessment (the EIA Law), and has been implemented since 2003. Policy EIA has been implemented since 2000 by policymaking departments, mostly voluntarily [12,13]. Presently, there is no specific requirement for policy EIA implementation regulated in the EIA Law, just as most of the countries and territories in the world where SEA is implemented [14]. However, during the practice of the EIA Law, the necessity to integrate environmental considerations into the macro decision-making process has been gradually realized by many regions and departments. Therefore, some decision-making departments did carry out policy EIA voluntarily in collaboration with the environmental protection departments. When confronting climate change issues, the integration of CCCs into EIA will ensure that the CCCs will be

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Front. Environ. Sci. Eng. 2013, 7(4): 598–607

integrated into the entire decision-making process from top to bottom (i.e. from policy to plan, then to project) and that they will be considered at every aspect of economic and social development. As the flexible institutional framework of environmental risk evaluation and management, EIA has provided a feasible and convenient pathway to integrate CCCs. During this study, a review of the international and domestic literature was first conducted to have a general understanding of the status and development of the integration of CCCs into EIA. Second, preliminary screening was applied to examine EIA cases. Third, a case study was deployed on selected cases. Finally, the existing problems and recommendations were identified. Based on the institutional framework of EIA, the case analysis mainly concentrated on the following questions: 1) What influences related to climate change were considered in EIA? 2) What indicators or indices were used to describe these influences? 3) How were these influences considered or evaluated in the process of EIA?

3

Case study

Through interviews and surveys, four SEA cases were selected in this study: 1) Strategic Environmental Assessment for Key Industry Development in the Bohai Sea Rim Area 2) Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Hubei Road Network Plan 3) Strategic Environmental Assessment for the SinoSingapore Tianjin Eco-City Master Plan 4) Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Development of Tianjin Binhai New Area Some major features of these cases are listed in Table 1. In these four cases, CCCs were deliberated from various aspects and depth. According to the three above-mentioned scenarios, the case analyses were performed to summarise the experience and existing problems of the integration of CCCs into EIA in China. Recommendations on the integration of CCCs into EIA were then proposed based on case analyses in combination with a literature review (including laws, regulations, and technical guidance).

3.1 Basic introduction 3.1.1 Case 1: SEA for Key Industry Development in the Bohai Sea Rim Area

Case 1, a sub-project of “SEA for the Five Mega-Regions in China” organised and implemented by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), was completed under the leadership of Tsinghua University with the collaboration of more than 20 national and regional research institutes. Two major types of impacts on industrial development strategy from climate change, such as ‘the evolution, current status and problems of regional ecological environment’, and ‘environmental risks’, were evolution. Evolution, status and problems of the regional ecological environment The annual average water resources of this region were estimated according to long-term (from 1956 to 2007) time-series hydrologic data. Based on this estimation, a qualitative analysis was conducted to deduce that water resources in northern China would be further reduced to worsen the water supply shortage and to intensify the burden of terrestrial, river and maritime ecology protection in the Bohai Sea Rim Area in the future under the circumstance of mid- and long-term climate change. Environmental risks The available water resources under extreme climate conditions and the water quality deterioration of rivers under extreme hydrologic conditions were quantitatively analysed. The risks of severe regional ambient air pollution under extreme weather conditions were also evaluated through numerical model simulation. 3.1.2

Case 2: SEA for the Hubei Road Network Plan

Case 2, completed through the collaboration between ECON Pöyry (Norway) and the Research Center for Strategic Environmental Assessment, Nankai University, is a pilot project on SEA supported by the World Bank, aiming to: 1) identify significant environmental and social impacts, both induced and cumulative, of the proposed transport plan; and 2) identify and suggest mitigation measures and institutional adjustments in Hubei Province needed to address these significant environmental and social impacts. Because of the participation of the World

Table 1 Basic information of four cases studied case

time of assessment

region of assessment

administration level

industry category

1

Jun. 2008 – May 2010

Bohai Sea Rim Area: terrestrial area- 12.9 104 km2 maritime area- 7.2 104 km2

trans-provincial

industry development

2

May 2007 – May 2008

Hubei Province: 18.59 104 km2

provincial

transportation business

3

Mar. 2008 – May 2008

Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City: 34.2 km

a functional area in Tianjin

city master plan

4

Nov. 2007 – Nov. 2009

Tianjin Binhai New Area: 2270 km2

a district of Tianjin

regional development strategy

2


Bank, this project integrated some new concepts and measures, such as institutional analysis, in addition to fulfilling the legal requirements for plan EIA according to the EIA Law. Greenhouse gases emission The focus of this project on CCCs was greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Three different GHGs, CO2, CH4, and nitrous oxide (N2O), were chosen to evaluate the emission intensity per unit length of the road network plan under various scenarios using a quantitative model simulation [15]. 3.1.3 Case 3: SEA for the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Master Plan

Case 3 was a plan EIA deployed according to the EIA Law. The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City, established through collaboration between the China and Singapore governments, is a strategic cooperation project aiming to improve the ecological environment and build an ecological civilisation. The purpose of this project is to construct a suitable living ecological community with scientific development, a harmonic society and civilised ecology, as well as to provide a model for an environment-friendly society in a new, world-class coastal city. Some quantitative indices (such as “carbon emission intensity per GDP”, “percentage of green building”, “percentage of green transportation”, “percentage of renewable energy”, and “percentage of clean energy”) and qualitative indices (such as “ecological safety and health”, “green consumption”, and “low carbon operation”) concerning CCCs were proposed in the draft plan by the planning department. Qualitative analysis In this case, the plan EIA was implemented according to the Technical Guidelines for Plan Environmental Impact Assessment (On trial). Because there are no systematic assessment requirements on these quantitative and qualitative indices regarding CCCs, only qualitative analysis and illustration of the indices mentioned above were carried out in the plan EIA. Carbon emissions In the regional environmental capacity analysis, the livelihood comprehensive energy consumption per capita, the carbon emissions from respiration, and the carbon balance of ecological greenbelts were used to evaluate the population capacity of urban lands. 3.1.4 Case 4: SEA for the Development of Tianjin Binhai New Area (TBNA)

Case 4 was a SEA pilot project organised and implemented by the Tianjin Municipal Government. TBNA was included in the Overall National Development Strategy by the Fifth Plenary Session of the 16th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held in October 2005.

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In May 2006, TBNA was approved as the National Comprehensive Supporting Reforms Pilot Site, according to the Suggestion on the Related Issues of Promoting the Development and Opening-up of Tianjin Binhai New Area promulgated by the State Council [16]. Large-scale development in TBNA has caused the issues of resource constraint and environmental pressure to become even more prominent. Under such circumstances, Case 4 was organised and deployed by the Tianjin Municipal Government to resolve the resource and environmental issues during development. Carbon emissions According to the methods recommended by the 2006 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, carbon emissions from various industrial sectors were estimated. In conjunction with the economic development prediction, the annual carbon emission intensity of the different planning levels was predicted under various scenarios. 3.2

Cases analysis

Based on the three questions listed in section 2, four major items were applied for the case analysis: CCCs, assessment objectives, assessment indices and methods, and mitigations. 3.2.1

CCCs

According to the CCCs applied in these cases, there are two major topics. One is the energy consumption and GHG emissions that occur along with development. The other is the restraints on development under abnormal or extreme weather or climate conditions. In practice, energy consumption and GHG emissions are primarily considered in these cases. Traditionally, the core of EIA is to evaluate the impacts on the environment resulting from policy, planning and program/project (PPPs). The impacts on PPPs resulting from the environmental change are rarely assessed [7]. Along with the implementation and development of EIA, the resource carrying capacity and environmental capacity have become important restraining factors during the decision-making process. Hence, it is not enough to assess an installation’s impact on the environment; one must also assess the impact of a changing environment on the installation [17]. In fact, the relationship between climate change and PPPs is indirect reciprocal causation, as shown in Fig. 1. Box C represents climate change; Box P represents PPPs; Box G represents energy consumption and GHG emissions along with development; and Box E represents the issues induced by extreme or abnormal weather or climate conditions. For geophysical science, the research is concentrating on

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Note: a) China’s National Assessment Report on Climate Change 2007[18]

Fig. 1

Interactions between climate change and PPPs

the effects of Box G on Box C, and the effects of Box C on Box E. For EIA, the research is then focusing on the effects of Box E on Box P, and the effects of Box P on Box G. Though there are many uncertainties regarding climate change, the reduction of GHG emissions and enhancement of the capability for climate change adaptation have become the common aims worldwide for responding to climate change. Hence, the potential impacts of PPPs, for example, increased GHG emissions, on climate change should be assessed during EIA implementation, as well as the potential influences of climate change, for example, extreme weather events, on PPPs. Currently, the effects of Box P on Box G are still the major concerns during EIA implementation, because of a lack of practical experience for evaluating the effects of Box E on Box P.

3.2.2

Assessment objectives

Objectives and standards are significant fundamentals of EA. Policy EIA and plan EIA place greater emphasis on the assessment of environmental objectives, and project EIA concentrates more on the evaluation of environmental standards [19]. However, no specific objectives for reducing GHG emissions and adapting to climate change were clearly defined in these cases. In addition, comprehensive scenario analysis was generally utilised to predict the outcomes. Therefore, only qualitative analysis was performed on the assessment indices. Consequently, there was not sufficient information for decision makers to make any appropriate judgment. 3.2.3

Assessment indices and methods

Four major issues were employed to evaluate the assessment indices and methods, for example, energy

consumption, GHG emissions, low carbon development and the influence of climate change on PPPs. 1) Energy consumption In general, the commonly applied indices among these cases were “energy consumption$(104 GDP)–1” and “percentage of renewable energy in total energy consumption”, and these indices were evaluated according to a scenario mathematic model. 2) GHG emissions The most-used indices were “carbon emission$(104 GDP)–1” and “GHG emissions”. In Case 1 and Case 4, the assessment methods were adopted from the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories but were simplified as a result of higher input data requirements. In Case 2, the assessment methods were deduced by the assessment practitioner, where fuel emission factors were adopted from the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories. In Case 3, no quantitative analysis was conducted to calculate “carbon emissions $(104 GDP)–1”. 3) Low carbon development Low carbon development was only adopted in Case 3, where only a qualitative analysis was performed on two indices, “percentage of green building” and “percentage of green transportation”. 4) Impacts on PPPs The influences of climate change on PPPs, such as “water quality deterioration of rivers under extreme hydrologic conditions” and “risks of severe regional ambient air pollution under extreme weather conditions”, were only considered and evaluated through numerical simulation in Case 1. Based on the analysis, assessment indices, such as “energy consumption$(104 GDP)–1”, “percentage of renewable energy in total energy consumption”, “GHG emissions’ and ‘carbon emissions$(104 GDP)–1” were widely used during practice, in line with the recommended


guidelines on the integration of CCCs into EIA proposed by international organisations and governments. However, the indices for the influences of climate change on PPPs recommended by these guidelines were rarely used. 3.2.4

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the assessment process, the countermeasures in Case 3 and Case 4 lack relevance. The results of the case analysis are summarised in Table 2.

Mitigation measures

4 One of the most important functions of EIA is to determine the mitigation measures according to the adverse impacts of PPPs and to integrate the mitigation measures into the PPPs decision-making process. In nature, the influences of climate change are cumulative impacts to be controlled via comprehensive measures. Adaptation and mitigation measures are two major types of policy responses to climate change. Mitigation measures for climate change are actions taken by humans to intervene in the climate system, for example, reducing GHGs sources and increasing GHGs sinks. Adaptation is the adjustment of the natural or human system in response to actual or anticipative climate change, to mitigate the adverse impacts or fully utilise all possible opportunities and resources. In these four cases, clean energy and energy conservation, low carbon development, GHG emissions reduction and adaptation to climate change were considered to be countermeasures to climate change. However, because the restraints on development under abnormal or extreme weather or climate conditions were not considered during

Discussion

According to this study, the existing problems of integrating CCCs into EIA in China are summarised in the following five sections. 4.1 Lack of exclusive laws and regulations on climate change response

As an UNFCCC contracting party since 1993, China has fulfilled the obligations and duties set in the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and Copenhagen Accord through legislation and policy institution, such as China's National Programme to Address Climate Change in 2007 [20]. In China, there are many laws and regulations indirectly concerning climate change. For further analysis, all related laws and regulations were divided into two categories, mitigation and adaptation, as shown in Table 3. In the mitigation group, these laws concern more general principles without specific and viable goals, policies and measures on climate change. In the adaptation group, these laws aim, to some extent, to promote adaptation to climate

Table 2 Summary of case analysis case 1

CCCs energy consumption

assessment indices

carbon emission

carbon emission$(104 GDP)–1

based on simplified IPCC model

water resources under extreme climate conditions

available water resources under extreme climate conditions

qualitative analysis

environmental risks under extreme water quality deterioration of rivers weather conditions under extreme hydrologic conditions; and risks of severe regional ambient air pollution under extreme weather conditions 2

GHG emissions

3

energy consumption

4

assessment methods

energy consumption$(104 GDP)–1 based on scenario mathematic model

emissions of CO2, CH4, N2O

numerical simulation

simple computation model developed by assessment practitioner (emission factors are adopted from IPCC)

percentage of renewable energy in energy budget analysis; energy structotal energy consumption ture analysis

carbon emission

carbon emission intensity per GDP


low carbon development

percentage of green building; percentage of green transportation


energy consumption

carbon emission

energy consumption per GDP; per- based on scenario mathematic model centage of renewable energy in total energy budget analysis energy consumption carbon emission$(104 GDP)–1

based on simplified IPCC model

mitigation measures clean energy and energy conservation measures countermeasures for low carbon development adaptation to climate change (including infrastructure and capability building)

measures to reduce GHG emissions clean energy and energy conservation measures countermeasures for low carbon development adaptation to climate change (including infrastructure and capability building) clean energy and energy conservation measures countermeasures for low carbon development risk management measures

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change for agriculture, forest, ecosystem, water resources, and coastal regions. However, there are no particular rules regulated in according with climate change adaptation, due to the historical background while these laws were instituted. Moreover, there are no comprehensive institutional schemes for laws to found principles, organisations, mechanisms and integration systems for responding to climate change. Therefore, the implementation of the integration of CCCs into EIA was heavily restricted. 4.2

Lack of applicable assessment standards and criteria

Without applicable assessment standards and criteria, integrating CCCs into EIA has been confined to qualitative description of CCCs, instead of quantitative evaluations. Without the appropriate legal framework, the main climate change response is limited to institutional policy, such as the voluntary emission reductions (VERs) proposed by Prime Minister Wen prior to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in 2009.The proposal stated that at national level, China would reduce the intensity of CO2 emissions per unit of GDP by 40%–45% of the level of 2005 by 2020. The VERs will be a very difficult target for governments at each level to fulfill. Because, some local governments were unable to accomplish the goals of energy conservation and emission reductions set in the 11th Five-Year Plan [21], all local governments will inevitably bargain with the central government regarding the amount of carbon emission reductions set in the 12th Five-Year Plan [22]. Therefore, EIA should provide decision-makers with sufficient information to achieve the VERs through fair and feasible allocation by various regions and diverse industrial sectors. As the VERs promised by the Chinese government, carbon emission intensity (CO2 emissions per GDP) is the third major binding index to the national economy, along with energy consumption per GDP and pollutant emissions. In addition to reducing carbon emission intensity, the percentage of non-fossil energy in primary energy consumption should be elevated to 15% by 2020. Thus, the Chinese government has been greatly promoting the development of renewable and nuclear energy industries. Furthermore, by 2020, the forestry area is projected to increase 40 106 hm2, and the forest volume is projected to increase by 1.3 109 m3 compared with 2005. Hence, significant plantation, afforestation and forestry management enhancement should be deployed. Compared to the goals for CO2 emissions per GDP, the goals for these industrial sectors are more explicit and affirmative. 4.3

Lack of common understanding

The viewpoints and evaluation measures to CCCs in these four cases are quite different. Without relevant technical guidelines and previous practical experience, the only

guidance to assessment practitioners is “what we can do”, instead of “what we should do”. Even though there are some guidelines and measures for the integration of CCCs into EIA, recommended by some countries and international organisations, their application was not observed during the case analysis. 4.4

Lack of practical experience

During the literature review and case selection, there were rare cases to systematically integrate CCCs into EA. For the exploratory work performed in a few cases, practical experience was insufficient for guiding future application because of a lack of profound analysis and research. 4.5

Limited in SEA only

During the case selection in the study, some project EIAs were surveyed, but no CCCs were taken into account because of the lack of requirement for CCCs for project EIAs in the relevant laws, regulations and guidelines. In addition, to promote local economic and social development, the minimum legal requirement will normally be met in project EIA to facilitate the approval of the project. In this study, only Case 3 was implemented according to the EIA Law, and the other three cases were implemented voluntarily by planning departments. Therefore, integrating CCCs into EIA in China is mainly implemented at the SEA level currently.

5

Conclusions

EIA is an effective tool for integrating CCCs into comprehensive decision making. Moreover, the reality of climate change provides EIA with an opportunity to reevaluate and reaffirm the assessment process, such as assessment procedures, assessment implementation, and integration of CCCs into decision-making process, and mitigation and monitoring measures [23]. To further utilise EIA to integrate CCCs into economic, social and environmental decisions and actions, the following recommendations are proposed. 5.1 To establish the specific legal system for climate change response

As mentioned above, there are many laws and regulations concerning climate change, but they are rarely instituted in response to climate change. To establish a proper climate change response, it is necessary to institute comprehensive laws on climate change response that aims: 1) to fulfill the obligations and responsibilities of the contracting parties of the UNFCCC, Kyoto Protocol and Copenhagen Accord;


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Table 3 Laws related to climate change in China group

A

first promulgation latest amendment

name of the law

M

the Forest Law of the People’s Republic of China

1984

1998

the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Energy Conservation

1997

2007

the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Environmental Impact Assessment

2002

–

the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Promoting Cleaner Production

2002

–

the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Renewable Energy

2005

2009

the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Promotion of Circular Economy

2008

–

the Marine Environment Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China

1982

1999

the Forest Law of the People’s Republic of China

1984

1998

the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Water Pollution

1984

2008

the Grassland Law of the People’s Republic of China

1985

2002

the Fisheries Law of the People’s Republic of China

1986

2004

the Land Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China

1986

2004

the Water Law of the People’s Republic of China

1988

2002

the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Water and Soil Conservation

1991

2010

the Agriculture Law of the People’s Republic of China

1993

2002

the Flood Control Law of the People’s Republic of China

1997

–

the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Administration of Sea Areas

2001

–

the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Desertification

2001

–

Note: M- mitigation; A- adaptation

2) to establish the legal framework for climate change response; 3) to demand the integration of CCCs into EIA as the mandatory requirement for environmental assessment (project EIA, plan EIA, policy EIA and SEA); and 4) to achieve a common understanding of the integration of CCCs into EIA. 5.2 To construct the guidelines on the integration of CCCs into EIA

In order for all practitioners to follow the same protocol in integrating CCCs into EIA, it is necessary to compile the technical guidelines on the integration of CCCs into EIA. Based on years of theoretical research and practical experience, some recommendations on how to integrate CCCs into EIA are proposed, as shown in Table 4. 5.3 To establish assessment objectives and standards according to different industries and areas

There are two major considerations in identifying the impacts on PPPs from climate change: the extent of the region and the industrial sectors involved. According to the National Assessment Report on Climate Change 2007, the influences of climate change are mainly concentrated on agriculture, water resources, natural ecosystem and coastal regions. The severe consequences include increasing the instability of agricultural yields, increasing floods in

southern China, increasing conflicts on water resources demands in northern China, increasing the degradation of forestry and grassland ecosystem, increasing the frequency of biohazards, decreasing biodiversity, increasing the frequency of occurrences of typhoons and storms, and increasing natural disasters in coastal regions. These consequences affect the construction and safety operation of relevant major engineering projects. The corresponding indices for all of these impacts should include sea level rise, precipitation, temperature, water level at flood peak, and extreme weather events. Therefore, a feasible framework for impact identification and an indices system is proposed in this study, as shown in Table 5. 5.4

To confirm mitigation measures

One of the most important functions of EIA is to determine the mitigation measures according to the adverse impacts of PPPs and to integrate the mitigation measures into the PPPs decision-making process. In nature, the influences of climate change are chronic and have a cumulative impacts, and they should be controlled via comprehensive measures. Adaptation and mitigation measures are two major types of policy responses to climate change. Reducing GHG sources and increasing GHG sinks are two mitigation measures to intervene in the climate system. Adaptation is an adjustment in response to an actual or anticipative climate change. Because of the inertia of the climate system, adaptation is always necessary despite large-scale

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Table 4 Integration procedures assessing process

GHGs emission analysis

impacts on PPPs from climate change

identify environmental impacts

increase or reduce GHG emissions increase or reduce carbon sink

damage to important infrastructure and property impacts on production and livelihood impacts on water resources demands and water quality impacts on biodiversity impacts on human health

survey and analyse current status

analyse carbon source and carbon sink, according to industrial sector, administrative district, and decision levels of PPPs involved

analyse embodiment of the effects described above, according to industrial sector, administrative district, and decision levels of PPPs involved analyse the sensitivity of PPPs to the effects described above

predict and assess impacts

quantitative calculation or qualitative analysis of total emission and emission intensity of GHGs quantitative calculation or qualitative analysis of total amount and intensity of carbon sink

quantitative calculation or qualitative analysis or evaluation of the impacts on PPPs from the effects described above

identify mitigation measures

identify measures to reduce GHG emissions identify measures to increase carbon sink

integrate adaptation and mitigation measures to climate change into PPPs

monitoring and follow-up assessment

monitor the effectiveness of measures to reduce GHG emissions

monitor the implementation of adaptation and mitigation measures to climate change

Table 5 Impacts identification and index system types of impacts

index

GHG emissions

CO2 emission intensity per GDP, GHG emissions per capita effects on GHG emissions from energy, transportation, annual vehicle mileage per capita business, agriculture, habitant, and waste management ratio of renewable energy effects on the pattern of transportation and travel energy consumption per GDP effects on the production of renewable energy / effects on energy efficiency / effects on promotion of low carbon economy and technologies quantity of solid waste effects on the quantity of solid waste

influences of climate change

effects on the site selection and design of developing activities, quantity and percentage of property threatened by floods quantity and percentage of property located at eroded area significant infrastructure, and public services (in order to quantity of water resources prevent impacts of floods) percentage of water supply and drainage for developing effects on site selection and design of developing activities activities located at eroded area quantity and percentage of property threatened by storms effects on water resources utilisation promote the construction of ecological network effects on water supply and drainage management effects on site selection and design of developing activities (in order to withstand storms) effects on the service functions of ecosystem

mitigation measures. The principles of finding mitigation measures and adaptation are summarised as follows: 1) to keep openness and flexibility for further measures and actions in the future 2) to avoid decision-making to induce climate risk management in the future 3) to search for win-win solutions for the integration of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, and the fulfillment of the goals of PPPs.

essential to improve the capability of practitioners through the following means: 1) to establish a professional training program instructed by international and domestic experts 2) to emulate successful cases from other countries 3) to accumulate practical experience through the participation in demonstration projects 4) to broaden knowledge through international communication and information exchange

5.5

5.6

To enhance the competence of practitioners

To integrate CCCs into EA effectively and efficiently, it is

To encourage public participation

As required by UNFCCC, the public should participate in


the responses to climate change impacts and the institution of appropriate countermeasures. In China, public participation is first implemented, institutionalised, and legislated in EIA. Through public participation mechanisms in EIA, stakeholders for climate change adaptation can be identified, including decision makers, decision implementers, the most vulnerable people to climate change, the beneficiaries of promoting the climate change adaptability of decisions, and the participants and people affected by the implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation measures. The participation of stakeholders should promote the accountability and transparency of the decision-making process. Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledged the funding support of the National Social Science Foundation of China (Project No. 11AZD103)and the Program of Higher-level Talents of Inner Mongolia University (SPH-IMU-Z20090112).

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