ESCAP

Most countries in Asia and the Pacific are inadequately prepared to manage the rising challenges of extreme weather events and natural disasters, according to a new study by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
Countries in the region lack the necessary data as well as means to support adaptation and mitigation efforts.
In the absence of decisive action, climate change will remain a leading cause of poverty and inequality across the region.
Over the past 60 years, temperatures in the region have increased faster than the global mean.
Extreme, unpredictable weather events and natural hazards have become more frequent and intense.
Tropical cyclones, heatwaves, floods and droughts have brought immense loss of life and displacement, damaging people’s health and pushing millions into poverty.
Of the 10 countries most affected by these disasters, six are in the region.

Impact on development:

Climate change and climate-induced disasters are increasingly threatening development in Asia and the Pacific.
They have been exacerbating the underlying drivers of poverty and societal inequalities by disproportionately burdening poor and marginalised groups.
The Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than half of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
It is one of the most rapidly developing regions of the world, with a significant proportion of the global population.
The region is also home to most of the world’s low-lying cities and vulnerable small island states.

High costs of losses:

The costs of climate change are already too high.
The annual average losses from natural and biological hazards in Asia and the Pacific are approximately $780 billion.
Under a moderate climate change scenario, these losses are expected to increase to $1.1 trillion and, under the worst-case scenario, to $1.4 trillion.
The current financing on this front is insufficient to meet the region’s requirements for investment in climate action or to contain global warming at 1.5°C.
With only seven years left to 2030, the target year for SDG, scaling up the available finance and increasing climate action ambition is important.

Way forward:

Hydropower, which holds the largest share of the region’s installed renewable energy capacity, has become increasingly unreliable.
The transport sector, primarily powered by oil, should be shifted to a low-carbon pathway.
This can be achieved by reducing transport distance through integrated land use, planning, shifting to sustainable transport modes with low-carbon or net-zero-carbon emissions, as well as improving vehicle and fuel efficiency.

SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB

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