Partnerships seen as key to combat climate woes

Further efforts are needed to fortify international partnerships in meteorology amid global climate change, as extreme weather events become more frequent and their effects on health turn increasingly evident, officials and experts said on Thursday.

They made the remarks at a forum under the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing.

Xiong Shaoyuan, deputy head of the China Meteorological Administration, said: "Initiatives have been launched in China to foster the growth of meteorology services and broaden the use of such services in the healthcare sector. We look forward to more cooperation with global meteorological organizations and (governments from) other nations in this regard."

In recent years, the global community has implemented a series of measures to tackle issues related to climate change and healthcare.

Among these, the Chinese government unveiled in 2022 a climate change adaptation strategy, outlining specific tasks and mandates, such as conducting assessments of health risks and adaptation capabilities linked to climate change, fortifying climate monitoring and early warning systems, with a focus on those that easily cause diseases, as well as prevention and control of climate-sensitive conditions.

Xiong said the administration is actively partnering with local governments to start trial projects to develop innovative meteorological products and services.

Experts said that in the backdrop of record-breaking high global temperatures and a surge in extreme weather events, precision, detail and customization are emerging as pivotal trends in meteorological services, significantly bolstering economic development.

A range of cutting-edge meteorological products were unveiled during the forum, including the Wonder Watch 1.0 weather alert smartwatch by the meteorological service bureau of Jiangxi province.

This device furnishes detailed weather forecasts spanning the next few hours to a week, conducts extreme weather risk assessments, and provides suggestions for user health management under various weather conditions.

Ren Minghui, a professor at the School of Public Health at Peking University, stressed the importance of actively addressing the health hazards posed by climate change.

"To counteract the health impacts of climate change, risk mitigation measures are essential, necessitating collaborative efforts across various entities.

"China should proactively engage in international cooperation in the domain of climate and healthcare, enhance cross-sectoral collaboration, implement national action plans and policies to tackle health risks associated with climate change, and bolster research and policy support," Ren said.