Research and analysis

Chinese corner: challenges in water, energy and climate change April 2014

Published 16 April 2014

This research and analysis was withdrawn on 18 June 2014

This document is no longer current.

Yunnan is China’s most southwesterly province, once at the country’s periphery but now positioning itself as a bridgehead of southeast Asia. It has a GDP equivalent to next door neighbour Vietnam and, from a relatively low base, is now growing at around 12% per year. But its designs on growth are potentially constrained by water supply and quality, and Yunnan’s government has called for UK support to address its challenges. In the run up to World Water Day on 22 March we took three experts to discuss urban water management, the water-energy nexus, and water security in the face of climate change.

0.1 Yunnan’s water woes

Yunnan should be blessed with water: several of Asia’s major rivers – including the Yangzi and Mekong – flow through Yunnan from glaciers on the Tibetan plateau, and overall it has the third largest resource of China’s provinces. However, its mountainous topography and dispersed settlements combined with poor infrastructure mean that utilisation rates are low. And to make matters worse, Yunnan has only recently come out from four years of its most serious drought for a century, bringing flow in major rivers down by around 40%, reservoir levels to an all time low, halving hydropower generation in some areas and leaving entire villages reliant on bussed-in water.

Yunnan’s breakneck growth is exacerbating the challenge. Water supply may be down but demand is soaring, particularly due to booming energy- and water-intensive industries. Environmental costs are ever clearer just as Yunnan’s lakes become less so, with the majority now deemed ‘medium’ or ‘heavily’ polluted, and Dianchi Lake, adjacent to provincial capital Kunming, now ‘worse-than-Grade-V’, a formerly off-the-scale category now routinely applied to over 20% of China’s rivers. UK expertise sought on water, energy and climate change

The local government sought help from the UK in addressing its challenges; evidence of how the UK is held in high regard for its water management. The event attracted policy makers from several government departments, as well as from science and industry. The event also provided two key insights:

• Yunnan is a water-stressed province with a vast and growing hydropower sector. We used a separate Prosperity Fund project to highlight the need to plan water and energy use together. The local Development and Reform Commission, responsible for macro-level planning, said that this was the first time they had thought about the challenge in these terms.

• Climate change is adding another level of risk and uncertainty for Yunnan. Local scientists presented their predictions for reduced river flow in the short term but an increase in both meltwater and precipitation over the longer term. They are already recording an increase in the frequency and scale of extreme weather events.

The conference provided a good showcase for UK expertise. At a separate meeting with the Department of Water Resources, Atkins presented their urban water management work and involvement with the China-EU Water Platform, and were invited back specifically to look at urban flood control in Kunming. Aecomm also presented a study of the historic town of Lijiang. There is further interest in UK companies’ work on urban water management and pollution control in particularComment

This small but well targeted event was a strong first step on water security in Yunnan. It showcased UK capability and introduced new policy thinking. The enthusiasm of local government to follow up swiftly was striking.

Climate change and energy is also just one strand of the British Consulate General Chongqing’s ever-stronger relationship with a less developed province that is going places, quickly, and testament to a sustained effort on outreach over an extended period. A Great Britain in Kunming week has also just been held promote trade and investment opportunities, luxury brands, culture and creativity, food and drink, UK tourism and science and technology.

0.2 Disclaimer

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