"As China is now increasingly becoming an important role in the world, China has taken a longer-term perspective and view to the development and efforts to cope with climate change," Hannah Reid, Senior Researcher at the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development.

Reid made the remarks in an exclusive interview with Xinhua at the sidelines of the 4th International Conference on Community- based Adaptation (CBA) to Climate Change held in Dar es Salaam.

"As we need short-term efforts in dealing with climate change issues, we also need longer-term perspectives. No country can do much better than China in this respect," Reid said.

She said as China´s pace of development is so fast that there is a need to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide. Developed countries also need to reduce their emission and help the less developed countries as the latter are more vulnerable to disasters such as floods, droughts and sea level rises.

Meanwhile, Catherine Zanev, Climate Change Coordination officer of the United Nations World Food Programme, told Xinhua that the impacts of climate change would result in less food available and higher food prices both in international and local markets.

She expected that China, as a big economy, will play a big role in dealing with climate change.

Hans Vikoler, Deputy Head of Programme of the United Nations World Food Programme said African countries which are facing the food security problem partly resulting from climate change, need to develop strategy to cope with the situation.

He said coping with climate change is a "shared responsibility" for both developed and developing countries.

James Hardcastle from Australia, who worked in China for three years as a senior adviser for nature conservancy, also highlighted China´s efforts to empower local community for environmental protection, noting that different resources and diversities need to come together to confront climate change.

He added that Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) can play a role of communication and bridge between communities and governments to deliver advises on government policies.

The three-day conference was attended by representatives of governmental and inter-governmental agencies, research institutions and NGOs, including the World Bank, and the World Food Programme.

The meeting includes special sessions to focus on how communities in urban areas or rural drylands can adapt to climate change impacts such as heat-waves, floods and droughts.

It also aims to map out strategies for sharing information within and between vulnerable communities, and to promote the integration of community-based adaptation into national policies and international development programs.

Source:Xinhua