Home / Environment / Report Review Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Study talks up climate-change adaptation
Adjust font size:

Helping developing nations to adapt to climate change such as floods or heat waves can give bigger economic benefits than a focus on deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, a study indicated yesterday.

A total of US$10 trillion spent on adaptation, ranging from research into drought-resistant crops to measures to limit a spread of diseases such as malaria, would provide US$16 trillion of economic benefits over the coming century, the study suggested.

"We talk immensely about cutting carbon emissions, but there are many other ways to deal with climate change," said Bjorn Lomborg, Danish author of "The Skeptical Environmentalist" who commissioned the study by Italian researchers.

"Everyone pays lip service to adaptation but in reality we rarely talk as much about it as cutting carbon emissions," he said of the study, meant to provoke debate about a new UN climate treaty to be agreed in Copenhagen in December.

"The authors find that ... adaptation achieves more than mitigation in terms of reducing the damage from climate change," he said. Mitigation means curbing emissions of greenhouse gases and often gets most attention at UN climate negotiations.

The study said that the highest economic benefits would come if adaptation went hand in hand with moderate curbs on emissions. In the best case, US$9 trillion spent would give US$19 trillion of benefits.

"The optimal strategy to deal with climate change entails the adoption of both adaptation and mitigation measures," Carlo Carraro of the University of Venice and co-authors from the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei in Italy wrote.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily August 21, 2009)

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read Bookmark and Share
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous

China Archives
Related >>
- Blair praises China's efforts in tackling climate change
- China, US committed to addressing climate change
- Stop blaming each other for climate change
- Climate change threatens biodiversity
- Top legislature to consider draft climate change resolution
- UN climate change talks endangered by slow progress
- China underscores climate change strategy
- Experts: Emissions cuts won't meet goals for climate change
- EC dedicated to help tackle climate change in Pacific
NGO Events Calendar Tips
- The Eco Design Fair 2009
- Environmental English Training (EET) class
- Hand in hand to protect endangered animals and plants
- Changchun, Mini-marathon Aimed at Protecting Siberian Tiger
- Water Walk by Nature University
More
Archives
World Fights A/H1N1 flu
The pandemic fear grips the world as the virus spreads from Mexico to the US, Europe and as far as China.
Panda Facts
A record 28 panda cubs born via artificial insemination have survived in 2006.
South China Karst
Rich and unique karst landforms located in south China display exceptional natural beauty.
Saving the Tibetan Antelopes
The rare animals survive in the harsh natural environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
More
Laws & Regulations
- Forestry Law of the People's Republic of China
- Meteorology Law of the People's Republic of China
- Fire Control Law of the People's Republic of China
- Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters
- Law of the People's Republic of China on Conserving Energy
More
Links:
State Environmental Protection Administration
Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of Land and Resources
China Environmental Industry Network
Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base