Synergizing Action on the Environment and Climate: Good Practice in China and Around the Globe

Building on the success of the 2018 Air Pollution in Asia and the Pacific: Science-Based Solutions report, partners in the Assessment Initiative joined the Scientific Advisory Panel and China’s Tsinghua University Institute of Climate Change and Sustainable Development to investigate how countries are integrating air pollution and climate policies to drive climate ambition and deliver immediate and long-term environmental, social, economic and development benefits. 

The resulting report report, Synergizing action on the environment and climate: good practice in China and around the globe, analyzed examples from China, Chile, Finland, Ghana, Mexico, Norway and the United Kingdom. The country case studies in the report show how environmental and climate co-governance is advancing rapidly all over the world, and in countries at every stage of economic development, but also that harmonized governance is a process that must be backed by science. In each case, the countries assessed their policies and measures to find out how they benefit climate change mitigation, air quality, health and socio-economic development. 

The report includes a set of policy recommendations for China and the world to build on. Global recommendations include exploring and implementing co-governance approaches to harmonize climate and environmental policy, particularly in their nationally determined contributions; sharing of good practice and tools between international and regional organizations, and nations and regions; making integrated assessments of climate and air quality strategies common practice to support robust and harmonized policymaking.