Environment – Page 6 – Regional Knowledge Sharing Initiative

Natural Capital Investment Is Key to Rural Recovery and Resilience

The harsh health and economic impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic are being felt across developing Asia. As the region moves toward recovery, agriculture presents a major route to reducing poverty and food insecurity compared to other sectors.

Prior to the pandemic, agriculture accounted for a significant part of the economy for many emerging countries—7.7% in China, 12.7% in Indonesia, 7.3% in Malaysia, 8.8% in the Philippines, 8% in Thailand, and 14% in Vietnam. Since millions of rural migrants lost their jobs in cities and returned to rural homes for their livelihoods, rural development is now becoming vital to post-pandemic recovery. As experiences in Thailand and the Philippines have shown, investments in agriculture can help revive food production and create jobs following a crisis, and enable rural communities to recover.

Productive and sustainable transformation of agri-food systems is a key element in the successful transition from middle- to high-income status. This is always challenging. But as countries push for economic diversification, expand the use of modern technologies, and establish effective management of food supply during this pandemic, many countries in developing Asia are well-equipped to overcome the challenge.

In the past, farmers had few incentives to pursue sustainable agriculture and protect natural assets without incurring significant cost or loss of income. This was because of the disconnection between the retail price of food and the cost of production and distribution reflecting implicit environmental costs.

But now East Asia and developing countries in the Mekong have started introducing natural capital accounting such as gross ecosystem product (GEP) to attach a monetary value to nature, and applying eco-compensation or payments for ecosystems to provide incentives for farmers to change their behavior. These are critical to sustainable transformation of the agricultural value chain, and can be replicated to other regions including central and south Asia.

In February 2021, China unveiled a new government body for the promotion of rural vitalization as the world’s most populous country shifted its policy focus to further enhancing natural capital investment and boosting rural areas. The same week, China’s top leaders outlined priorities and tasks for the next-stage of reform at a key meeting, which stressed efforts to explore a market-based, sustainable way to realize the value of ecological products.

All of these actions are a move in the right direction for a rural recovery, while protecting the environment and natural resources. The wider region could consider how to incorporate similar approaches in their recovery plans.

Looking forward, several opportunities exist to continue the drive toward a more resilient and sustainable recovery in rural Asia.

Agribusiness marketplace. ADB is working with its developing members to establish an agribusiness marketplace on a digital platform. This platform will integrate modern advanced technologies, such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, cloud computing, and blockchain, to digitalize agriculture value chains. This will reinforce food security and strengthen utilization, preservation, and improvement of natural capital. It will also help in solidifying transparency and traceability to improve food safety. At this marketplace, stakeholders of different sizes will have better channels to exchange information, sell products, arrange logistics, obtain financing, participate in training, and acquire third-party services, such as branding, certification, new product design, as well as professional assistance in legal, contracting, accounting and taxation issues.

Sustainable finance. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including primary producers, dominate the food system. They are typically at a disadvantage when accessing finance, owing to opacity, under-collateralization, high transaction costs and lack of financial skills. Bank credits are the main source of external capital for SMEs. They need better access to alternative financing, such as equity finance, corporate bonds issuance, and mezzanine finance.

Incentive mechanisms. While there is growth in the adoption of eco-compensation or payments for ecosystem services in rural areas, the current incentive structures still encourage unsustainable short-term behaviors that deplete natural capital. This is a complex area requiring a suitable mix of appropriate “carrots, sticks, and narratives” to change the way that markets work (e.g., sustainable financing and payments for ecosystem services), to enact smart policies and regulations, and to change social norms through information disclosure and education.

ADB has established a working group to expand upon experiences in China and the Mekong subregion through a regional natural capital lab. The lab is designed as a living and virtual platform to incubate, accelerate, and expand natural capital investment, which will prioritize the support for greening of the agriculture value chain in developing Asia. The lab will leverage existing accounting tools to quantify the ecosystem service value of green agricultural value chains, strengthen eco-compensation or payments for ecological services to incentivize behavior change among small farmers, and establish a financial facility to convert ecosystem value or assets into the revenue model of agribusiness.

Our experience during COVID-19 has demonstrated the resilience of agriculture and its enormous value in driving economic recovery. The pandemic has also shown the importance of preserving the harmony among natural assets. Combining these two lessons underlines the need to transform agri-food systems so that they operate in a sustainable way. This transformation can be considerably enhanced by the use of digital technology and eco-compensation mechanisms. ADB’s natural capital lab and the associated financing facility would catalyze much-needed investment to achieve this transformation.

Author

Qingfeng Zhang

Chief, Rural Development and Food Security (Agriculture) Thematic Group, ADB

This Op-Ed is reproduced from Asian Development Bank.

Expanding Green Finance, Blue Finance, and Disaster Risk Financing for Innovative Operations

James Lynch, Director General of East Asia Department (EARD) on 16 December chaired a knowledge-sharing webinar presenting findings from recent ADB supported research on innovative financing to help bolster and scale-up PRC’s green and high-quality development. Renowned economist and thought leader in green finance, Dr. Ma Jun from Tsinghua University, and insurance expert Gary Wei discussed practical approaches on green-blue financing and disaster risk financing. Emma Fan, Director of Public Mgt, Financial Sector, & Regional Coop Division(EAPF), EAOD and Jackie Surtani, Director of Infrastructure Finance Division 2, Private Sector Operations Department (PSOD) shared thoughts on potential application of these financing innovations in sovereign and nonsovereign financial sector operations. About 40 participants, including representatives from the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission, participated in the event. The webinar was organized through a One ADB collaborative effort by EAPF, PRCM and PSOD.

Agenda:

16 December 2020

Time	Program
08:30 – 09:00	Registration
Session 1	Opening Plenary Chair: Yolanda Fernandez Lommen, Country Director of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC)
09:00 – 09:15	Welcome Remarks Zhang Zhiqing, Deputy Director General, Foreign Capital and Overseas Investment Department, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Han Bin, Deputy Director General, Department of International Economic and Financial Cooperation, Ministry of Finance (MOF) James Lynch, Director General, East Asia Department (EARD), ADB
Session 2	Expert Sharing Chair: James P. Lynch, Director General, EARD, ADB
9:20 – 9:40	Presentation 1 (via Zoom) Green and Blue Financing for High Quality Growth and Green Transformation Under the 14th Five Year Plan (20 minutes) Presenter: Dr. Ma Jun, Director, Finance and Development Research Center and the Green Finance Development Research Center, Tsinghua University This presentation will provide specific suggestions on using green and blue financing to reduce carbon emissions, lower pollution, protect the environment, and improve climate change resilience, especially for peaking carbon emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.
9:45 – 10:00	Discussion, Questions, and Answers 15 minutes
10:00 – 10:20	Presentation 2 From Pandemic to Greater Resilience: Public Financing Strategies in Response to Extreme Disasters(20 minutes) Presenter: Dr. Gary Wei, Insurance Expert This presentation will propose specific public finance measures to improve resources and preparedness for large scale disasters, such as through parametric insurance.
10:20 – 10:35	Discussion, Questions, and Answers 15 minutes
10:35 – 10:45	Coffee Break
Session 3	ADB Sharing Chair: James P. Lynch, Director General, EARD, ADB
10:45 – 11:00	Presentation 3 Innovation and Applications in Sovereign Operations: Using Innovative Financing to Enrich Sovereign Financial Sector Operations(15 minutes) Presenter: Emma Fan, Director, Public Management, Financial Sector, and Regional Cooperation Division (EAPF), EARD, ADB Drawing from the expert’s presentations, this presentation will propose measures to support green finance, blue finance, and disaster risk financing operations under the next CPS and 14th Five Year Plan. The presentation will also cover blended financing.
11:00 – 11:15	Presentation 4 Innovation and Applications in Nonsovereign Operations: Examples of Innovative Nonsovereign Operations(15 minutes) Presenter: Jackie B. Surtani, Director, Private Sector Operations Department (PSOD), ADB Drawing from the expert’s presentations, this presentation will share examples of innovative nonsovereign operations in the PRC and other ADB developing member countries.
11:50 – 12:00	Summary and Closing (including final views from DDG Zhang and DDG Han) Chair: James Lynch (10 minutes)

Video:

PRC’s Path to Higher-Quality Green Development

As we approach the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan (FYP) (2016-2020) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the country can take satisfaction in many notable achievements over the past five years.

The FYP placed significant emphasis on the environment, and set out to reduce total emissions of major pollutants and reverse biodiversity loss and degradation. We saw the concept of Ecological Civilization become enshrined in the PRC’s constitution in 2018, which prioritizes an innovative, coordinated, green, open, and shared approach to development. Ecological Civilization brought forward a new focus on the importance of natural resource management and the need to address pollution challenges around air, water, soil and plastics, and contribute to global climate and sustainability governance.

We are seeing the concept of Ecological Civilization being translated into practice in rural areas, where agriculture, farmers and rural communities have become the core focus of multi-sectoral development efforts. More sustainable use of natural resources is accompanied by a reduction in rural poverty and inequality, and greater food security. Ecological Civilization is promoting more sustainable production and consumption, along with actions to address climate change and protect natural ecosystems. As a result, economic, social and environmental welfare in the PRC’s rural areas is improving.

The forthcoming 14th FYP (2021-2025) needs to carry this positive momentum forward, as well as the concept of Ecological Civilization. The post COVID-19 economic recovery provides the opportunity to make an even stronger commitment to environmental protection and address climate change through high-quality, green and nature-positive development approaches.

Consistent with the focus on greener, more sustainable growth, the 14th FYP is expected to emphasize climate change and outline various initiatives for the PRC to meet its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. The recent announcement that the PRC will become carbon neutral by 2060 is a strong step in the right direction. Under the 14^th FYP, new policies and measures are expected to scale up renewable energy and low-carbon, livable cities.

The theme for 2021 Global Biodiversity 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15) is also rooted in the vision of Ecological Civilization and draws inspiration from traditional and new eco-innovations. This event will adopt a ten-year global biodiversity framework (2021-2030). COP 15 offers a great opportunity for China to ensure that ecological conservation redlining, a one-health approach (human-animal-environment), and sustainable financing mechanisms for natural capital mechanism be incorporated in the 14th Five Year Plan.

The PRC is also looking to strengthen subregional development programs such as the Yangtze River Economic Belt and Yellow River Ecological Corridor by focusing on biodiversity conservation, and using eco-compensation schemes to value ecological resources and services, and ensure this value is preserved. In the spirit of Ecological Compensation, these large-scale rural vitalization programs focus on improving livelihood opportunities for the people and communities in rural areas. This also includes support in the agriculture and tourism sectors, improving access to finance for farmers, households and small businesses as well as efforts to ensure the provision of basis services such as health and education.

The 14th FYP represents both an opportunity and a critical roadmap to achieve high-quality development while advancing renewed forms of international cooperation. Integrating ecological protection and nature-positive approaches will require concerted efforts and the design of a comprehensive set of transformative policies. Three actions will be paramount to achieve these ambitious goals.

First, climate adaptation and mitigation measures must be integral to natural resource management to enhance their impact on the ground. Strengthening linkages among sustainable agriculture and food systems, integrated natural resources and disaster risk management will be critical to enable decision making for climate-resilient investments.

Second, improve natural capital accounting and market-based mechanisms to catalyze green finance in the Yangtze and the Yellow river basins. This will only be possible if coherent policies offer scope for better allocation of funding in areas with high ecological and high conservation value and are aligned with national land-use planning.

Third, incorporate biodiversity conservation into the PRC policy framework of green finance. A crucial step in this direction will be to nurture innovative financial mechanisms for rural vitalization and ecological protection. Other actions needed include accelerating piloting and deployment of new technologies, partnering with innovative companies to improve agriculture value chains by leveraging small entrepreneurs, and enhancing financial disclosure mechanisms to mitigate biodiversity risks.

The ADB has been a partner with the PRC in supporting higher quality and greener development during the 13th FYP, and this focus will remain the cornerstone of our partnership in working together toward a more sustainable future for the PRC, and the Asia and Pacific region.

Author

James Patrick Lynch

Director General, East Asia Department, ADB

This Op-Ed is reproduced from Asian Development Bank.

At an Ecological Crossroad

The PRC’s progress on biodiversity conservation offers meaningful takeaways for other countries.

It is now 10 years since the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity established 20 targets for biodiversity conservation. The bad news is that none of these targets has been fully achieved at the global level.

Among the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (2011-20), six have been partially achieved, while five, including loss and fragmentation of natural habitats, pollution detrimental to ecosystems, human pressures on coral reefs, extinction of threatened species, and decline of ecosystem services have shown no significant progress or are veering wider off the mark.

This is the inconvenient truth that the international community is facing ahead of the 15th conference of Parties to the CBD, which is scheduled to take place in Kunming, Yunnan province, later this year. During this gathering, the post-2020 global biodiversity framework will be discussed and hopefully agreed on.

While the parties to the CBD will pursue an ambitious new framework, implementation of a series of outcome-oriented actions at the national level remains critical. In this respect, the PRC’s experiences over the past decade can offer some meaningful reference for the parties.

The PRC, as one of the 198 parties to the CBD, has performed relatively well, with 16 of the 20 targets advancing will track, including three that have been exceeded (protection of ecosystems that provide essential services, enhanced ecosystem resilience, adoption of national biodiversity strategy and action plan). Four targets though are yet to be achieved, including sustainable management of marine living resources, prevention and control of invasive alien species, the reduction of pressure on vulnerable ecosystems such as coral reef degradation due to ocean acidification, and prevention of extinctions. A large number of rare and endangered species still face the risk of extinction in the PRC. These include reptiles, amphibians, fish and birds.

So what takeaways can the PRC’s experiences offer the CBD as it moves forward on the post-2020 agenda?

First, the government’s strong ownership and leadership have ensured a highly efficient top-down approach to set the priorities for biodiversity conservation and design policies to accomplish them. Effective ecological protection policies have resulted in a steady increase of protected areas from 1.48 million square kilometers in 2008 to 1.73 million sq km by 2018.That is 18 percent of its terrestrial (including inland water) areas compared with the Aichi target of 17 percent. These protected areas provide important natural habitats for many species and have significant biodiversity richness. Importantly, national nature reserves are generally under effective management (accounting for 9.7 percent of terrestrial coverage, compared with the Aichi target of 5 percent achieved in 2020).

Second, the PRC has integrated ecological management into the country’s legal and policy regime, as well as key development programs, to provide a platform for biodiversity conservation. The concept of Ecological Civilization has been written into the PRC’s Constitution as the ideological framework for the country’s environmental policies, laws and education. The national and provincial social and economic development five-year plans also include ecological conservation as a key element.

Third, the PRC has emphasized the benefits of biodiversity conservation to local communities. Conservation programs provide local people with alternative livelihoods such as small businesses involving ecological products or ecotourism and access to e-commerce, and/or employment opportunities such as rangers. Reliable and sustainable incomes give incentives to local people to be engaged actively in conservation.

Fourth, biodiversity and its associated ecosystems should be valued properly considering their significant benefits and services to human beings.

Biodiversity and ecosystems have great value and can be treated as natural capital. But how to convert these natural assets into capital that can generate revenues eventually and further be invested back into conservation requires consensus based on a set of scientific accounting standards. COP 15 will provide a platform for the international community to discuss this issue.

Moving forward, there is a need to establish straightforward measurements to track conservation progress. This is a major deficiency in the Aichi Targets and makes it difficult at the national level to achieve consistency and comparison between the parties in the measurement of target indicators. As measuring performance on biodiversity requires multiple indicators such as coverage of natural habitats and the number of threatened species, the biodiversity loss or degradation is not captured in a simple indicator. In contrast, climate change is measured at the highest level using a simple unit of global temperature rise and the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions has been standardized in terms of CO2-equivalent emissions using Global Warming Potentials over 100 years.

With simpler measurements, it would also be easier to assess whether the aggregated national contributions are sufficient to achieve international targets on biodiversity. Such a framework could also be useful in the context of the CBD.

Looking ahead to COP 15, the parties should set ambitious targets that are easily measurable and backed by concrete actions and sufficient resources. Only then can the world start making up for lost ground after dragging its feet for the last 10 years on biodiversity conservation.

Author

Zhiming Niu

Senior Project Officer (Environment), East Asia Department, Asian Development Bank

This Op-Ed is reproduced from China Daily.

Fuzhou Environmental Improvement Project in the People’s Republic of China

Restoring a River the Natural Way

In the People’s Republic of China, rehabilitation of the Simao River took an ecological and green development path and was integrated into city plans.

Overview

The Simao River in Pu’er City, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was rehabilitated to prevent flooding in the city, restore the area’s biodiversity, and improve livability for residents.

In 2012, the city government worked with the Cities Development Initiative for Asia (CDIA) to finalize the design of its rehabilitation project, which aimed to develop Simao River into an attractive landmark and improve its flood protection capacity. Soon after, KfW (German Development Bank) approved an $80-million loan to implement the key components of the project.

In 2018, CDIA development experts returned to Pu’er and saw that the measures implemented by the city, which largely adopted a nature-based approach, resulted in better flood control and more sustainable river management, improved water quality, and restored ecology of the river. Residents were also using green spaces near the river for recreation and social interaction.

Project information

PRC: Flood Control, Environmental Improvement and Water Reclamation Works in Pu’er

Project snapshot

- - Start date: January 2012
  - End date: June 2012
  - Total project cost: $410,000
  - Financing:
    - KfW: $80-million loan for key components of project
    - CDIA: $410,000 in technical assistance
    - Municipal Government of Pu’er
  - Commissioning agency: Municipal Government of Pu’er

Context

Pu’er City is situated in the southwest of Yunnan Province. It covers a floodplain of about 45,000 square kilometers, framed by green hills and mountains where the famous Pu’er tea is grown. The city’s estimated population is 200,000.

Pu’er developed into a modern urban center in recent years, but increased urbanization brought pressing challenges. It experienced frequent floods that severely affected urban activities and the future development of the city. The foul odor of garbage and sludge from the Simao River further attested to environmental deterioration.

Challenges

The Simao River traverses the urban area of Pu’er. The 15-km long watercourse acts as a natural drainage channel for the city and serves as a home for wildlife and vegetation along its shores. In previous years, however, the river lost its capacity to provide these environmental benefits.

In 2012, the river had a very low flood risk management capacity that it could only cope with a 5-year flood event or less. Due to the characteristics of the river’s course and riverbeds, it could not effectively drain flood waters, thus putting the city at risk of flooding.

The Simao River was also polluted. Solid waste, sludge, and aquatic plants impeded its normal water flow, and informal settlers occupied some of its riverbanks. Pu’er’s inadequate wastewater management system compounded the problem, as only 22% of the urban wastewater was collected and treated. The rest was discharged directly into the Simao River and its tributaries.

With the river’s poor water quality and surrounding environment, biodiversity could hardly thrive. This was a stark contrast to the rich flora that Yunnan Province is known for.

Pu’er’s residents perceived the Simao River as a heavy burden; they did not see it as an integrated part of their city and did not regard it as an emblematic feature of Pu’er’s natural beauty.

Solutions

The Pu’er Municipal Government prepared a feasibility study of the Simao River rehabilitation project to develop the watercourse into an attractive landmark and to prepare the city to cope with severe flood events.

Comprehensive project preparation

The city government asked CDIA to review the feasibility study and finalize the preliminary design for the Flood Control, Environmental Improvement, and Water Reclamation Works in Pu’er project.

CDIA and the Pu’er government worked closely for 6 months in 2012 to prepare the project, involving all relevant stakeholders at each critical step of the planning process. They collected information and conducted surveys, analyses, and calculations to provide a strong foundation for the design of the Simao River rehabilitation project.

By the end of CDIA’s intervention, the city was set to pursue the following measures:

Improve the water quality through a series of treatment wetlands at the confluences of Simao River tributaries and storm water channels;
Provide a river layout that can withstand 50-year flood events;
Allow the river water to flow through a combination of free-flowing stream and still water sections;
Provide an open main flood channel with vegetation situated alongside riverbanks; and
Divide project construction into three sections and three contract packages for the entire length of the river.

In December 2012, KfW signed an $80-million loan agreement with the PRC government to implement flood control and channel improvement works for the Simao River.

Use of ecological and green development approach

The city mostly used nature-based solutions recommended by CDIA to achieve a more sustainable river rehabilitation and create a healthy and livable environment for residents. It espoused the use of ecologically sound and diverse measures, natural processes and materials, and it based restoration efforts on the idea of the features being part of the natural environment and not exclusively built structures. It also planned to entirely use native plant materials for revegetation and for reinforcing flood beds and riverbanks.

The adoption of an ecological and green development approach ensures cost effectiveness in terms of construction and maintenance, and it can also recreate a natural river environment that protects against floods and provides natural habitats for biodiversity.

Integration of the project with city development plans

The city government integrated the planned interventions with their master plan and linked the river works with other relevant urban infrastructure projects, such as wastewater management, wetland park development, and urban renewal. This approach enabled the city to pursue a project design adapted to its existing and future development needs.

Results

CDIA visited the city 6 years after it completed its technical assistance and found that the city completed 85% of the project work, including flood control, sewage interception, and river ecology restoration measures recommended in the CDIA study.

Pu’er officials noted that the risk attributed to flooding has been minimized in flood-prone areas after completion of dredging and excavation works along the river. They also expect that the river will be able to withstand a 50-year flood event when the project is completed.

The river’s water quality improved after the city reformed its wastewater management program, and the foul smell coming from the river was eliminated. There was also a noticeable increase in fish population in the still water sections of the river.

The landscape surrounding the river was rehabilitated, with 50 hectares of greening and restoration efforts along its banks giving residents new spaces for recreation.

The city used natural and indigenous materials and processes during the project and that resulted in low construction and maintenance costs. Pu’er officials are optimistic that an ecological and green development approach will improve biodiversity and promote the sustainable development of the river.

Informal settlers along the river that were exposed to flooding were transferred to relocation sites with better amenities and quality of housing units.

Finally, the roads and bridges constructed and retrofitted near the river are expected to improve mobility and access to social services for residents.

Lessons

Aided by the interventions and the commitment of relevant stakeholders, Pu’er is set to achieve its primary objective of developing the Simao River watercourse into an attractive ecological landmark while eliminating flood risks and improving the water quality of the river.

The integration of the project into the Pu’er City Master Plan paved the way for the coordinated implementation of relevant urban infrastructure projects. Meanwhile, the active participation of city officials and the affected communities in project planning and implementation strengthened their ownership of the project.

The city government linked the various project components with internal and external funding sources necessary to implement the project. It further established a governance structure, headed by the city mayor, to manage and maintain the river and its tributaries after project completion.

Key officials of the Pu’er Municipal Government are optimistic that Pu’er will serve as a model for other cities in the PRC on how to approach the problem of flood management the natural way and how to integrate flood management measures in a more sustainable manner.

References

Cities Development Initiative for Asia. 2012. Final Report: Flood Control, Environmental Improvement & Water Reclamation Works in Pu’er.

R. Baoy, E. Ringhof, and C. Yiyang. 2018. Pu’er Tracer Study. Tracer Studies on City Interventions. Cities Development Initiative for Asia.

Author

Brian Capati

Urban Development Specialist, Cities Development Initiative for Asia

This blog is reproduced from Development Asia.

In the People’s Republic of China, Helping Women Will Help the Environment

Gender equality needs to be at the forefront to make environmental policies more effective and to speed the full recovery from COVID-19.

Lockdown measures to reduce transmission of COVID-19 in 2020 have exposed the extent of human impact on nature. As people were required to stay inside and work from home and air travel and industrial output dropped significantly, we saw pollution decline and nature bounce back.

In the People’s Republic of China, the decrease in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions during the first quarter of 2020 has been estimated at 11% compared with the same period in 2019. Mobility and economic activity were drastically reduced during this time.

The return of a blue sky in big cities revealed the seriousness of pollution. It also signaled the need for urgent human action to veer toward sustainable consumption and production given that this year’s decrease in global CO2 emissions (estimated at 7%) will hardly affect overall atmospheric concentrations.

This will require environmentally sustainable policies as well as changes in individual behavior, which is challenging, as demonstrated by the need for recent policies on fireworks prohibition, waste segregation, and wildlife protection. As a Chinese saying goes, “it’s easy to change mountains and rivers, but it’s difficult to change people’s habits.”

This led us to dig deeper into the environmental awareness, attitudes, and behaviors of different social groups and explore the links between sustainable consumption and gender in the People’s Republic of China. We conducted a survey based using the Chinese Family Panel Study and the Chinese General Social Survey. We found that women exhibit higher pro-environmental preferences and behaviors than men in numerous cases, but not always.

Overall, data indicate that women exhibit greener living and working habits than men. Women tend to smoke less, eat less meat and prefer cleaner cooking fuels, such as gas and electricity, instead of coal and firewood. Women tend to put more effort and time toward environmental protection through garbage sorting, recycling, and using reusable shopping bags rather than disposable ones.

Regardless of income and age, women’s transportation choices are more likely to be carbon free. This includes walking, cycling, and public transportation. Women and men hold equally strong awareness about the need for harmony between humanity and nature.

Data also showed improving trends across time and age groups, but young generations appear to have higher environmental awareness and pro-environmental preferences than older generations.

Although science is increasing the odds of overcoming COVID-19, it is more urgent than ever to accelerate action towards sustainable living.

Although we find women are more willing to invest time and physical effort on green actions, we also identified three conflicts that policymakers should note to unleash women’s positive contributions to environmental solutions.

The first conflict is that women are constrained in both finances and time to take more responsibility despite their high social preference towards environmental protection. The gender wage gap is as large as 39% in the People’s Republic of China and larger for the older generation, which partly explains why women are less willing to take on financial burdens related to the environment. We also found that women on average take on more unpaid housework and care work than their male counterparts (1.3 hours more on weekends and 1.1 hours more on weekdays). The gap is even larger for rural women.

Second, women exhibit lower awareness on climate change and industrial pollution than men; despite stronger eco-friendly behaviors in daily life.

Finally, women lack enough political representation to drive the policy discussion. The People’s Republic of China ranked 95 out of 153 countries in terms of women’s political empowerment in the Global Gender Gap Report 2020.

To unleash women’s potential, a level playing field is a prerequisite, and the following actions can help.

1. Close the remaining gender gaps that limit women’s capacity to shape policy. This includes enhancing the social care system to reduce the time poverty of women, promote equal education opportunities, especially for rural women, set up wage transparency mechanisms to promote equal payment, and address gender stereotypes in leadership, politics, and participation in decision-making on green development.

2. Include a gender perspective in the design of sustainable consumption and production policies. We recommend integrating gender analysis into the existing policy agenda of sustainable consumption and production; specifically, policy makers need to ask whether gender differences in information access and decision-making about resources will contribute to the varying impact on men and women.

3. Continue investing in environmental education and awareness of the impact of consumption choices. Action is based on awareness, but we have identified a general “threshold of indifference.” This means that despite efforts at education and improvements over time, still a significant share of the population, regardless of gender or age, continues to have low awareness about environmental processes. Promoting more informed decision making of consumers is needed, including making the origin of products more transparent, developing labeling and certification systems, and adopting product traceability technology.

Although science is increasing the odds of overcoming COVID-19, it is more urgent than ever to accelerate action towards sustainable living. Gender equality needs to be at the forefront to make environmental policies more effective. As Chairman Mao Tse Tung famously stated, “women hold up half the sky”. With women’s enhanced participation and the effort of both men and women, we will eventually hold up the whole sky, making the world better, greener and safer.

Authors

Veronica Mendizabal Joffre

Social Development Specialist, East Asia Department, ADB

Fan Li

Economist

This blog is reproduced from Asian Development Blog.

Building the Climate Change Resilience of Mongolia’s Blue Pearl: The Case Study of Khuvsgul Lake National Park

Healthy and Age-Friendly Cities in the People’s Republic of China

Applying Ancient Wisdom to Disaster Risk Mitigation

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Built in 256 BC, the Dujiangyan system harnesses the power of nature to irrigate farmlands and prevent floods in the People’s Republic of China.

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Introduction

A water resource management system built more than 2,000 years ago is still used for flood control and irrigation in Sichuan province in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). It is a feat of nature-based engineering that uses indigenous wisdom and materials.

Designed and constructed in 256 BC, the Dujiangyan system controls flow and diverts water from the turbulent Min River without the use of dams. It has irrigated farmlands on the Chengdu Plain, which produced bumper crops that earned Sichuan its reputation for being a “Land of Abundance.”

How does it work?

Dujiangyan uses the natural topographic and hydrological features of the area to regulate the water from the river for irrigation, flood, and flow control, and to drain sediments.

The Min River is the largest tributary at the upper reach of the Yangtze, Asia’s longest river. It originates from the southern side of the Min Mountains at an elevation of about 3,700 meters (m).

The headworks of Dujiangyan is located at the mountain exit of the Min River and at the top of the fan-shaped Chengdu Plain. It comprises three structures: the fish mouth levee, flying sand weir, and bottleneck channel. These work seamlessly together in directing the flow of water and sediments and for flood discharge.

The fish mouth levee is a man-made island in the shape of a giant fish that lies in the middle of the river. It is constructed at a big curve, and it is about 80 m long, 39 m wide, and 6 m high.

The levee splits the water into two channels: the outer stream, which is the original course of the river, and the inner stream, which was built to be deep and narrow. In the dry season when the water level is low and velocity is slow, more water flows toward the inside of the bend or the inner stream, which directs water into the Chengdu Plain. In the rainy season when the water level is high and velocity is fast, more water is discharged, especially during floods, into the relatively shallow but wide outer stream.

The levee structure also creates the helicoidal flow phenomenon: a corkscrew-like flow of water rushing toward the river bend (inner stream) that causes massive whirlpools to spill rocks and sediments into the outer stream and then into the main river because of centrifugal force.

The flying sand weir is located at the outer edge of the inner stream. It is about 200 m long and 2.15 m high. It partners with the bottleneck channel for a second round of flood discharge and silt removal. The inner stream rushes to the narrow bottleneck channel, causing the water level to rise. When the water level is higher than the flying sand weir, the overflow spills into the discharge channel. During a large flood, the weir will collapse to allow more water to be diverted into the outer stream.

The centrifugal force of the water flowing along the river bend toward the bottleneck spins out the remaining sediments over the flying sand weir. The system removes up to 90% of sediments.

How was it built and how has it evolved?

The Dujiangyan system was designed by Li Bing, governor of Shu Prefecture, who was given the task of diverting the Min River to Chengdu.

The original construction materials were bamboo, wooden piles, and stones. The stones were loaded into woven bamboo cages to build dikes and weirs and reinforced with the wooden tripods or macha. The wooden tripods were weighed down with soil, pebbles, and other materials to form a temporary retaining wall to block the flow of water. The bamboo cages with stones were used to combat floods or to also block water during maintenance and construction.

The bottleneck channel, which is about 40 m high and 20 m wide, was cut through Mount Yulei manually to allow the water to flow into Chengdu Plain.

To maintain the efficiency of the system, the levee and weir were repaired, and the waterways were dredged regularly. Stone horses were buried in the middle of the inner stream to mark the proper depth of the riverbed. Too much dredging will result in flooding, while too little will result in insufficient water flow. The stone horses were later replaced by iron rods or wotie.

The Dujiangyan system has been improved throughout history. Water diversion facilities and reservoirs were built in the 1970s.

What has been its impact on local communities?

Before the Dujiangyan was built, the Chengdu Plain was prone to floods in the summer and droughts in winter. Sediments accumulated in the riverbed.

The water resource management system broke the vicious cycle of natural disasters year after year. It is still functioning after more than 2,000 years. Today, it benefits 23 million people by providing irrigation to 10 million mu (667,000 hectares) and domestic and industrial water supply as well as flood management.

Ecotourism also flourishes in the area because of the Dujiangyan and other cultural and natural attractions. Dujiangyan was added to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 2000 and the World Irrigation Engineering Project Heritage list of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage in 2018.

What best practices does it offer?

Nature-based solutions offer a way to provide economic, social, and environmental benefits simultaneously. Using natural systems can be effective in improving climate resilience and in mitigating disaster risk.

Dujiangyan is a good example of how to take full advantage of natural topography and geographic conditions in harnessing the power of nature. It does not use large-scale grey infrastructures yet has withstood the test of time. It is a sustainable system with low operation costs, and it uses locally produced and readily available “circular” materials. There is little negative impact on the natural environment.

Holistic, integrated, and strategic planning went into the project. The headworks, irrigation channels, and other associated structures were designed as an integrated system. All structures work seamlessly together.

References

X. Yang. 2020. Nature-based Approach in Climate and Natural Disaster Risk Management: Dujiangyan Water Resource Management System. Presentation made at the ADB–PRC seminar series. 5 August.

Ministry of Water Resources, the People’s Republic of China. 2019. Dujiangyan—The Oldest Functioning Dam-Free Water Diversion Project. Article. 20 March.

Author

Xiaoyan Yang

Senior Programs Officer, East Asia Department, Asian Development Bank

This blog is reproduced from Development Asia.

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