GIZ hosted three expert workshops from December 2024 to March 2025 in order to enable a peer-to-peer exchange between Chinese and international adaptation experts and support the implementation of China’s National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy 2035 on local level. The workshops are part of a series of measures of the Sino-German Cooperation on Climate Change – NDC Implementation project facilitating action to assess the risks and strengthen the resilience of the project’s partner provinces Guangxi, Shaanxi and Sichuan to cope with the impacts of climate change. The exchange with the Chinese provinces was kicked off in 2024 with a series of workshops, field visits, and bilateral exchanges, and follows a study tour to Germany and the Netherlands. The global climate science and policy advisory Climate Analytics assists the project by bringing in international adaptation expertise.
The workshops guide provincial research institutes in developing strategies, policies, and action plans tailored to address local climate risks and strengthen the resilience of natural and urban ecosystems. They facilitated technical exchange and peer-to-peer learning between representatives of provincial think tanks and the international expert community on context-specific solutions for climate impact and risk assessment, as well as concrete adaptation measures. A forthcoming series of climate change adaptation guides for practitioners summarizing international practices and tools will offer further reference for policy makers at provincial Departments of Ecology and Environment.
Workshop 1: Natural environment risks and solutions with a focus on mangroves and high plateau areas
The first workshop, held on 9 December 2024, focused on natural environment risks, specifically in regions with mangroves and high plateau areas. It comprised three key sessions: Climate Risk in the IPCC Framework, Climate Change Impact and Risk Assessment, as well as Policy Solutions and Measures for Strengthening Resilience. The partners were already aware of many of the climate risks affecting their regions and are engaged in varying degrees of risk assessment and adaptation work. The participants were particularly interested in case studies that highlighted adaptation strategies with socio-economic co-benefits. They also shared their views on the challenges of acquiring comprehensive data on ocean conditions, tides and on the current state of glaciers.
Workshop 2: Urban environment risks and solutions with a focus on multi-risk and adaptation concepts, tools and policy frameworks
The second workshop, held on 16 January 2025, addressed urban environment risks and solutions, with an emphasis on multi-risk assessment, adaptation tools, and policy frameworks. It featured three main sessions: Climate Risk and Responses in Cities, Hazards and Solutions in Urban Environments, and International Examples of Urban Adaptation Policy Frameworks. Discussions centered on urban risks and solutions, with partners sharing views on primary hazards and the tools and measures they are employing to mitigate these risks. Special interest was shown in tools that help link various risks to their impacts, supporting better planning and decision-making. Experts introduced tools such as the UrbClim model, for assessing climate risks in cities with a high spatial and time resolution, and FloodAdapt, a physics-based compound flood and detailed impact modeling tool. Presenters explored with the partners how the tools may be applied in local contexts.
Workshop 3: Integrating climate risk assessments into adaptation policy and planning processes
The third workshop, held on 6 March 2025, focused on integrating climate risk assessments into adaptation policy and planning processes. It was divided into three parts: Tools Used in Climate Risk Assessments and Adaptation Policy, From Assessment to Action: Risk-Informed Implementation and Governance, and Examples of the Adaptation Policy Cycle in Practice. The program emphasized international approaches to climate risk assessments – outlining key tools, platforms, and expert guidance – and provided guidelines for interpreting risk assessments and translating findings to policymakers and other key stakeholders. Furthermore, the experts exchanged on the national adaptation policy implementation in Bangladesh and the Weihai climate adaptation pilot city program. The role of sufficient climate finance for adaptation measures was also underscored.
With contributions of 17 international experts from the IPCC, government departments, universities, research institutes and think tanks worldwide and the active engagement of representatives of the Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Scientific Research Academy of Guangxi Environmental Protection, Guangxi Meteorological Science Research Institute, Sichuan Academy of Environmental Policy and Planning, and Sichuan Climate Center, the series of workshops helped to connect the international and Chinese adaptation expert community and facilitate peer-to-peer learning. The enhanced mutual understanding of the major challenges and solutions for dealing with the increasing impacts of climate change will also inform three climate change adaptation guides for practitioners currently in development by Climate Analytics providing international best practices and lessons-learned risks and solutions for adaptation of natural ecosystems and urban environments as well as the adaptation policy and planning cycle. All activities will ultimately feed into the development of local adaptation strategies and action plans: the development of a climate change vulnerability evaluation index system for mangrove areas in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the elaboration of city-level adaptation action plans for Chengdu (Sichuan) and Tongchuan (Shaanxi) as well as adaptation analysis and planning for the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (Sichuan).
The adaptation workshop series is part of the Sino-German Cooperation on Climate Change – NDC implementation project, a bilateral cooperation project commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) as part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI), cooperating with the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China (MEE) and jointly implemented by GIZ and China’s National Centre for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation (NCSC).
