It is the first time the exhibition will be displayed in Beijing for a longer period of time. Organized by the German think-tank adelphi and the Chinese Society for Sustainable Development (CSSD) with support of the German Federal Foreign Office, the exhibition illustrates the growing impact of environmental changes, with respect to China and globally.
The exhibition shows how environmental degradation and resource scarcity can spark conflicts and create security threats. At the same time, it highlights the role that environmental cooperation and sustainable development can play in fostering peace and stability. Both outcomes are possible: increasing conflict or peace and stability. The exhibition thus promotes the importance of cooperative efforts to promote sustainable resources management in the areas of water, livelihoods, natural resources, climate and energy.
A section of the exhibition deals with the specific challenges that China is facing as a result of environmental degradation and climate change. For example, agricultural productivity is estimated to decrease with accelerated desertification, partly a result of climate change. However, the Chinese government has taken important steps to cope with these challenges, transforming its economic structure and development pattern.
This touring exhibition has so far been travelling to and shown in more than 30 cities worldwide, including Jinan, Kunming, Zhuhai, Guangzhou, and Chongqing in China. It is part of a joint climate diplomacy initiative of the German Federal Foreign Office and adelphi, a leading Berlin-based think tank for applied research, policy analysis, and consultancy on global change issues. Activities in China are rolled out in close cooperation with the Chinese Society for Sustainable Development which is part of the Administration Centre for China`s Agenda 21 and founded with the goal of organizing national sustainable development research programs.
For further information, please see also ecc-exhibition.org.
Colombia’s long-standing internal conflict and the country’s contribution to climate change share one common root cause: land concentration. Policies to strengthen access to land and to ensure sustainable land use might therefore hold the key to promoting peacebuilding in Colombia, while simultaneously reducing emissions.
As disasters wreak havoc all over South Asia, health impacts have increasingly emerged as a major concern for communities and governments in the region. It underscores the need for concerted efforts towards building synergies between the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, particularly now, in the post-disaster reconstruction phase, to ensure “building back better” and future disaster prevention.
In the Inner Mongolian county of Horinger, Northwestern China, afforestation efforts have transformed a barren, dusty landscape into a pine forest. Planting trees has diminished the sandstorms, boosted biodiversity and improved the environment generally. As the climate emergency worsens, the potential for planted trees to draw carbon out of the atmosphere is being re-examined. What can the world learn from the Chinese experience with afforestation?
Two events in August 2019 underlined the complexity of paving the way to a climate-neutral world: the publishing of the new IPCC report and the Amazon fires. Both events demand that climate diplomats move beyond a narrowed focus on energy in decarbonisation debates.