Living with global climate diversity—suggestions on international governance for coping with climate change risk

Climatic conditions have important influences on human life and the sustainable development of economies and societies. Climate varies in space and time. People have always lived with climate diversity, and the two influence each other. The degree of mutual influence differs at different spatial and temporal scales. Since the industrial revolution, the human effect on climate has gradually increased, and expanded from local to global scale. To allow people to live in harmony with nature and prevent disaster risks, the International Human Dimensions Program on Global Environmental Change (IHDP) announced the implementation of a scientific plan aimed at discussing risk governance, especially with respect to large-scale disaster risks, under global environmental change conditions (IHDP—Integrated Risk Governance Project, 2009–2019). As the initiator of this scientific plan, the authors propose a strategic development framework for living with global climate diversity considering a series of large-scale disasters in China and around the world in recent years and relevant experiences and lessons, and offer suggestions for the global mechanism of dealing with climate change risks.