Click cover to read report
Yesterday (27 April 2009) ADB issued their report “The Economics of Climate Change i Southeast Asia: A Regional Review” (download report, 10MB, PDF).
One of the five sectors to help mitigate climate change is as expected the energy sector.
The study observed that climate change is already affecting Southeast Asia, with rising temperature,
decreasing rainfall, rising sea levels, increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events leading to massive flooding, landslides and drought causing extensive damage to property, assets, and human life. Climate change is also exacerbating the problem of water stress, affecting agriculture production, causing forest fires, degrading forests, damaging coastal marine resources, and increasing outbreaks of infectious diseases.The report urges that Southeast Asian countries should treat adaptation as an extension of sustainable development practices. Its key elements include: adapting agricultural practices to changes in temperature and precipitation; adapting water management to greater risk of floods and droughts; adapting coastal zone management to higher sea levels; safeguarding forest areas from forest fires and degradation; adapting people to threats of vector-borne infectious diseases. Southeast Asia countries need to take timely action to adapt to climate change, build resilience, and minimize the costs caused by the impact driven by GHG emissions that have been locked into the climate system.
The key word is action, we need to help create action today.
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