Monitoring the nature and severity of the full range of risks posed by climate change can ensure that national and global mitigation and adaptation responses are effective.
International scientists and policy analysts in the UK and China have collaborated in a multi-year, multi-disciplinary research process in order to deepen understanding of how complex and interconnected first, second and third-order risks can be assessed.
The assessment has unfolded over three phases.
Phase 1 demonstrates how general principles of risk assessment can be applied in relation to climate change.
-
Phase 1 report, 2015: Climate Change: A Risk Assessment
Phase 2 addresses a specific recommendation from phase one – that risk assessments need to be made on a consistent basis – by providing a proof-of-concept indicator framework following bilateral cooperation between the UK and China.
-
Phase 2 report, 2018: Developing Indicators of Climate Risk
Phase 3 explores emissions risks, direct climate risks, systemic climate risks and the integration of climate risks into Chinese and international governance frameworks under the guidance of the China Expert Committee on Climate Change and the UK Committee on Climate Change and builds on the risk indicator and risk assessment work developed in Phase 1 and 2.
Phase 3 content published by partners:
- A New Perspective on Decarbonising the Global Energy System (video: English / Chinese)
- Carbon Neutrality Targets and Climate Risk: An Assessment of Economic Damage from Climate Change (English / Chinese)
- Climate Change Risk Assessment and Governance: Insights from UK-China Cooperation (English / Chinese)
- Enhancing Climate Risk Governance in China (English / Chinese)
Please see below for project content published by Chatham House.
The programme is delivered through a cohort of partner organizations based in China and the UK including Chatham House, Tsinghua University, the University of Oxford, the National Climate Centre of China, the University of Reading, Hubei University of Economics and E3G (Third Generation Environmentalism) and funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
