More than $4 million from Norway, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) will be invested to help 31 Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions draft programs to fight climate change in the next two years, organizers said in Beijing on Monday.

The project, called the Provincial Programmes for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in China, will start with Norway and the EU helping 14 pilot provinces and autonomous regions develop guidelines for their environmental programs, slated for completion by the end of the year.

Most of the 14 pilot provinces are in the western and northern parts of the country, which are thought to be more prone to natural disasters and extreme weather conditions.

The selected provinces are "very representative", said the director-general of the National Development and Reform Commission's (NDRC) climate change office, Su Wei.

"The pilot areas were picked because they are where we can make a real breakthrough, to set examples and push forward the project by targeting provincial-level regions," Su said.

One of the 14 pilot provinces, Qinghai, is expected to address its retreating glaciers as part of the program, officials said, but details on the drafting of the programs were not yet available.

The scheme will be widened to the rest of the 17 provinces and regions, based on the experience of the pilot areas.

Each of the 14 pilot provinces should have its own program and the rest should have outlines of their program by 2010, the NDRC has said.

"The finalization of such plans for all provinces of China will be a remarkable achievement, which I think will meet broad international recognition and be an inspiration and model for many other countries," Norwegian embassy environmental counselor Per Schive said.

The latest project follows a memorandum of understanding reached between the NDRC, the UNDP, and Norway, which was signed in March last year.

The agreement was part of a bid for participants to cooperate on building provincial capacities for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Similarly, the State Council issued a National Climate Change Program last June.

Sichuan province, which was hit by a deadly 8-magnitude quake on May 12, was cited as another typical example of the pilot provinces in the latest move.

The issues of climate change and environmental protection should be thoroughly considered in the reconstruction of quake-hit areas in Sichuan in the program, the NDRC's Su Wei added.

Apart from Sichuan, other provinces and regions that face climate change challenges because of their reliance on the coal industry will also be given priority in the project.

In this regard, coal-rich Shanxi province is expected to receive assistance from Norway. Besides financial support, visiting Norwegian Minister of the Environmental and International Development, Erik Solheim, will also make a field trip to the province tomorrow.

Solheim arrived in Beijing yesterday for a four-day trip.

"He (Solheim) wants to learn and understand more about the real situation and challenges that provinces of China are faced with, when it comes to planning and taking action regarding mitigation and adaptation to climate change," Schive said.

(China Daily July 1, 2008)