Forum on effects of climate change and intensive human activities in China

The concluding Forum of the joint IIASA and National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Project on “Assessing the Impact of Climate Change and Intensive Human Activities on China’s Agro-Ecosystem and its Supply Potentials” was held in February 2013 in Shanghai.

Chillis, China © shunjian123 | iStock

Chillis, China

After three years of implementation by four partner institutions, including IIASA, the concluding Forum of the NSFC-IIASA Project on “Assessing the Impact of Climate Change and Intensive Human Activities on China’s Agro-Ecosystem and its Supply Potentials” [1] was held on 25 February 2013 at Shanghai Meteorological Bureau (SMB). 32 experts, scholars and government officials attended, as well as IIASA scientists.

For this project, analytical work was carried out using a new multi-scale agro-ecosystem model developed to build on the strengths of two leading crop models already in use – Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer (DSSAT) and the Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ). The new model was used to identify climate change adaptation options for China’s agricultural sector.

The final public defense of the project was held on 12 March 2013 at NSFC, with 25 minutes for presentation and 25 minutes for questioning by 12 external assessors.

Dr. Zhan Tian of Shanghai Meteorological Bureau and Laixiang Sun of IIASA made the presentation and answered all questions. After the defense, 11 of the 12 external assessors voted “A” - an extraordinarily high rate. As a result NSFC placed a report in the inter-ministerial “Communiqué”. This success greatly contributed to raising IIASA’s reputation in China and reflects the research quality of the collaborating IIASA team led by Günther Fischer.

Thirty-two experts, scholars, and government officials from the partner organizations attended this forum, and a large number of journalists audited the forum and interviewed scientists of the project team.

The forum was widely reported in Chinese media (including Xinhua News and People’s Net News). Beijing Daily published a special 3,000-word report on the major findings.

Nine SCI papers have been published on the project by the end of 2013. Six policy reports and briefings were submitted to the State Council of China and relevant ministries and authorities.

In particular, the policy report on “Who will feed China’s livestock – A policy report on feed security issue in the future” [2] was well received by one of the vice premiers of China, and the policy report on “Assessment on the status of excessive fertilizers application and its impact on environment in Shanghai” was highly appreciated by the Shanghai municipal government.

See also "Integrated Analysis and Modeling of Land Use Efficiency and Security under Rapid Agricultural Transformation in China.” 

Forum participants

  • National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC);
  • China Meteorological Administration (CMA);
  • Shanghai Meteorological Bureau (SMB);
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences;
  • Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences;
  • Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO);
  • University of Maryland. 

References

[1] NSFC Grant No. 40192140410;
[2] Sun, Laixiang (2010). “Who will feed China’s livestock?” The Twenty-First Century Review  (Chinese University of Hong Kong) 121:39–41.

Collaborators

Shanghai Meteorological Bureau (SMB);
Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences;
The Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR).


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Last edited: 20 April 2016

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Günther Fischer

Distinguished Emeritus Research Scholar Water Security Research Group - Biodiversity and Natural Resources Program

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