Building Climate Resilient Utilities 2025

Appendix: Definitions Definition of utilities sector In accordance with the industry classification of the World Economic Forum47 and China’s National Standard (GB/T 4754 – 2017),  Industrial Classification for National Economic Activities,48 Table 1 provides a detailed definition of the utilities sector as discussed in this report. Definition of resilience – in general and for the utilities sector Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) “The capacity of interconnected social, economic and ecological systems to cope with a hazardous event, trend or disturbance, responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain their essential function, identity and structure. Resilience is a positive attribute when it maintains capacity for adaptation, learning and/or transformation.”49 United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) “The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate, adapt to, transform and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions through risk management.”50Definition of utilities sector TABLE 1 Utilities sector Definition Production and supply of electric power and thermal energyBiomass energy production Electric/nuclear power transmission and distribution Nuclear and thermal power stations Solar energy provision Wind energy provision Hydropower production Geothermal energy production Production and supply of gasGas distribution Oil and gas transportation Integrated oil and gas Oil and gas storage Gas retail Production and supply of waterWater services (e.g. waste water, treatment and distribution) Building Climate-Resilient Utilities: Lessons from China and Future Pathways 25