Evaluation of Climate Change Adaptation in the Energy Sector in China via a Composite Index

Climate change will affect the energy sector and the energy sector must take measures to adapt to future climate conditions. Before taking measures, it is necessary to understand the current adaptation of energy sector to climate change. Therefore, this paper is to assess the adaptation of energy sector in China to climate change in 2000-2017 through a comprehensive index. In order to establish a comprehensive index, three sub-indexes are determined first, and the climate change adaptation index (CCAI) is finally obtained through standardization treatment, weight determination and index summary. The results of CCAI show the energy sector in China put forward a reactive adaptation scheme in 2000-2010, which has a high system vulnerability. After 2010, there was an anticipatory adaptation scenario in which vulnerability was average. Although a short leap of planned adaptation was achieved in 2011 and 2013, which greatly reduced the vulnerability of the system, the state is not stable. As a whole, the energy sector in China has made some progress from the reactive adaptation scenario wherein the vulnerability was high to an anticipatory adaptation scenario wherein the vulnerability was average, indicating that the foundations for this sector to build a planned adaptation are currently being laid.