CRCWSC contributes to climate change seminar in Beijing, China
The CRC for Water Sensitive Cities (CRCWSC) recently contributed to the ‘International Workshop on Urban Adaptation to Climate Change’ held in Beijing, China on Friday 5th September 2014.
Wholly funded by Asia Development Bank (ADB) the event was jointly organised by China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD). Research organisations from China, Australia, Canada, UK and France participated in the workshop with over 200 people from local municipal government attending.
Mr. Xie Zhenhua ,Deputy Director of NDRC at his opening address, informed that China is currently preparing its action plan for Chinese city’s adaptation to climate change and the plan will be released before the 20th UN Climate Summit 2014. The ADB estimates that the investment in climate change adaption in 2013 is one billion US dollars.
The workshop comprised three forums on:
- Urban development and climate monitoring and weather warning
- Climate adaption and urban built environment
- Resilient urban infrastructure.
The CRCWSC was the only international organisation invited to speak at the forum on resilient urban infrastructure. CRCWSC International Engagement Manager, Jianbin Wang, presented on ‘Building Resilience for Urban Water in the Era of Climate Change’ highlighting the importance of adopting multi-functional infrastructure and combined centralised and decentralised hybrid systems in tackling urban water issues under climate change and how this adaptation strategy can also be used in creating resilient cities in China.
The event was attended by the Deputy Director of NDRC, the Vice Ministry of MOHURD and the China Director of the ADB. It also attracted significant media attention on China’s central television and many other local media.
