Delegates from more than 180 countries are currently meeting in Copenhagen to discuss climate change and, it is hoped, agree on measures to fight it and reduce its impact. One big issue discussed at the meeting is the relationship between climate protection and the worldwide fight against poverty.

The Amity Foundation has worked in both these areas for many years. Below are some facts and figures about our environmental protection work.

In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Amity has supported the replacement of conventional cooking and lighting systems with more efficient cook stoves and renewable energy technology, in particular biogas systems, solar stoves and photovoltaic panels. Amity has supported both tree-planting and pasture conservation projects in several regions of China. Free-range husbandry in the north-west of the country is being replaced by fenced-in pasture systems; attempts are made to restore the ecological balance in regions which have been severely overused in recent decades.

In addition to this, Amity has promoted the use of organic fertilisers in order to reduce water pollution with chemical fertilisers, which is one of the biggest environmental problems in China today. Amity has also helped to introduce optimised agricultural production techniques, especially in the production of rice, in order to cut emissions of nitrous oxide and methane.

Since it will not be possible to prevent climate change altogether, Amity has also worked toward the prevention and mitigation of disasters prompted by climate change. Here the focus has been on strengthening the responsive capacities of communities against extreme weather.

One of the most pressing environmental and social problems in today’s China is the scarcity of safe drinking water. This is why water projects have long been especially high on Amity’s list of priorities.

Top-down bureaucratic decisions have sometimes led to environmental disasters in the past. This is why Amity puts great emphasis on grassroots participation in the projects it supports. We are working to involve local residents in decision-making and management so those who are most immediately affected by changes in the ecological balance become responsible stakeholders. We feel that this is the best way to safeguard their interests and a precondition to the long-term sustainable use of natural resources.

In 2008, the Amity Foundation sponsored the environmental protection projects listed below:

• biogas systems: 4700
• solar cookers: 1300
• photovoltaic power systems: 130
• ecological forestry plantation and enclosure for reforestation: 9700 hectares
• natural grassland improvement and enclosure:1500 hectares
• drinking water supply: 40 systems
• organic fertiliser supply for farmers in the Sichuan 2008 earthquake region
• water supply research in Guizhou Province

Amity is planning to extend the use of biogas system in China’s central and western regions and to integrate some of these projects into the Clean Development Mechanism, the carbon-trade scheme established under the Kyoto Protocol. Projects including solar cookers, photovoltaic power systems, renewable energy use and reforestation will be continued.

Public awareness-building with regard to sustainable lifestyles and patterns of consumption will be part of our ongoing work, as will be training in both rural and urban communities. One of the focus areas will be to promote awareness of organic agricultural products in the cities. Amity’s new “Clean Soil, Safe Food for All” programme aims to explore organic agriculture models and to reduce the reliance on chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

As regards water projects, Amity will go on focussing on improved access to safe drinking water in north-western and south-western China.