China needs to find solutions to its pressing environmental challenges in order to ensure food security for its sizeable population, leading British and Chinese scientists have concluded.
The recommendation was the result of a roundtable held at the China-UK Summit for Environmental Science to Policy in Beijing, which also suggested the country develop a science-to-policy interface.
The discussion also considered the level of engagement with stakeholders in environmental sustainability and food production issues; developing a timetable for producing narratives on how to develop an integrated approach to environmental and food security policy; and developing a framework for Sino-UK collaboration on developing a science-to-policy interface.
Professor Gao Shiji is the director general of the Institute for Resource and Environmental Policies at the Chinese State Council’s Development Research Centre. He recommended that the two states “work together to continue this dialogue, and to increase the cooperation between UK and Chinese scientists, policy analysts and decision makers in our united fight against environment pollution in China.”
James Hutton Institute director of research impact Professor Bob Ferrier said: “The best environmental policies are those supported with robust scientific understanding and that requires the policy and research communities to work closely together. We aim to share experiences between our countries to meet that challenge.”
And the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology’s Professor Alan Jenkins added: “Many of the environmental problems faced in China have been addressed in the UK in the past. Sharing our experiences in environmental science and making this available to policy makers is a clear opportunity. In return, we have much to learn from the current environmental ambition in China and the restoration and remediation techniques being employed on a vast scale.”
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