SciDev.Net

Commissioned by UK Office of Science and Innovation, the report looks at the trend of international scientific collaboration between the United Kingdom and its leading partners. It uses bibliometric data (co-authorship and citations of scientific articles) to capture international scientific collaboration in seven broad research fields, focusing on Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, UK and the US. The data deals with two time-periods, 1996–2000 and 2001–2005 and the report finds that publication of co-authored articles on scientific collaboration has increased considerably faster than the overall increase in research across the two time-periods. It also finds that countries vary in their ability to collaborate or to benefit from it. The results may have important implications for putting international scientific collaborative arrangements in place.

In this manifesto, John Mathews, professor of strategic management at Australia's Macquarie University, challenges development organisations to reconsider their position on biofuels. He says countries should follow Brazil, China and India in forging a "new pathway of industrial development", based around biofuels.

Mathews argues that although China and India are seen as big polluters, they, together with Brazil, are actually paving the way for developing nations to invest in renewable energy.

He outlines practical steps for creating renewable energy industries, citing Brazil — the world's leading producer of biofuels — as an example. Mathews sets out 10 arguments for biofuels in the developing world.

China is likely to focus its efforts on reducing poverty through economic growth, which will have consequences for how the country addresses climate change. This OECD study considers the effects of a carbon tax on health and agricultural productivity.

The paper shows that there is considerable scope for slowing emissions growth without hurting economic growth. The health benefits of reducing regional pollution are significant, and the welfare gains from improved agricultural productivity are almost as great. The combined health and agricultural benefits of a carbon tax make reducing carbon dioxide emissions using such a tax a realistic goal.

While somewhat technical, this report is well researched and gives a thorough assessment of the subject. It is pertinent reading for anyone interested in climate change and human health, including health care professionals.

This document is available in pdf format only. An abstract is available online here.

What is China's potential role in greenhouse gas mitigation? "Important," says Maya Papineau, in this article, published in the online journal of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo (CICERO). China's industrial development, and its huge population, will contribute significantly to emissions in the future unless action is taken now.

Papineau argues that China needs to become a leading partner in making development possible without carbon emissions. Her article provides a brief yet comprehensive assessment of current and projected emissions, the role clean energy and increased efficiency could play in China, and impacts of climate change on the country.

While development goals could prohibit mitigation in industrial sectors, residential energy needs could probably be met using alternatives to carbon-intensive coal and biofuels – which would have public health benefits as well. The author also looks at the likelihood of an official Chinese contribution to greenhouse gas mitigation under the Kyoto Protocol after 2012.

In October 2004, China submitted its initial National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, providing a detailed picture of the country and its activities within the context of climate change.

This is the executive summary of the National Communication. It provides insight into the Chinese government's efforts to deal with the issue. It includes a general overview of the country, an emissions inventory (which is not currently required of China under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), climate change impacts and adaptation, policies related to mitigation, and a capacity building assessment.

It also includes an overview of what is needed for national communication, research, systematic observation, and education. Of particular interest is section 4, which describes the country's policies and measures related to reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

This document is key reading for anyone interested in China's role for climate change.

This report, published in English and Chinese by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), is the result of a 30-month project exploring how climate change is affecting agriculture in China.

The project involved numerous participating research institutions from China and the United Kingdom, and a steering committee including representatives from both countries' government ministries.

A regional climate model, PRECIS, was used to develop climate change scenarios for four crops in China: maize, wheat, rice and cotton. Based on these scenarios, the effects of an increase in temperature of three to four degrees Celsius can be predicted.

The results suggest that maize, rice and wheat fields that are not fertilised by spraying them with carbon dioxide could be 37 per cent less productive as a result of climate warming.

And while cotton yields are generally expected to increase in a warming environment and with higher levels of carbon dioxide_, the level of increase is uncertain and also affected by other factors, such as water and nutrient availability.

 This is an interesting and accessible example of a collaborative assessment of climatic impacts in a specific region of the world. The project also produced national scenarios of socio-economic development in relation to Chinese agriculture, which will be valuable for the sector in the long term.

Bt cotton, developed to resist bollworm attack, can have significant economic and environmental benefits, according to a three-year study of hundreds of Chinese smallholder farmers. The study, carried out by collaborators from China and the USA, also revealed that growing Bt cotton can have a positive impact on human health. The main benefits to farmers from using Bt varieties were increased crop yield and reductions in the amount of pesticide used. As well as lower input costs, growers reported fewer pesticide-related illnesses associated with growing Bt cotton, as compared with the non-Bt varieties.

While the authors describe greater chemical use in some areas of China growing Bt cotton, they found no evidence of an associated increase in pesticide resistance within the bollworm population. They believe that the transient increase in pesticide use was due either to changes in pest pressure, or the fact that some farmers were sowing seed saved from the previous year. This could have reduced the effectiveness of the resistant crop variety. Economic theory has correctly predicted that increased supply would result in lower market prices for cotton growers. The authors conclude, however, that current prices still offer considerable economic gains for farmers growing the Bt varieties.

Since the 1980s, China’s government has heavily supported research in biotechnology, including the development of high-yielding, insect- and drought-resistant plant varieties that potentially could allow farmers to produce more food from China’s limited land area. However, China now seems to be taking a cautious approach to biotechnology.

Genetically modified (GM) varieties of most of China’s major crops have been developed, but only a few have been approved for commercial use. The long delay in publishing final biotechnology regulations in 2001 and the lack of details in those regulations suggest that China's policy-makers are still debating the issue.

This paper gives a clear and concise summary of the current state of biotechnology research and application in China, the level of consumer acceptance of GM crops, and the regulatory environment that policy-makers are working within.