Mushahidullah suggested that boosting adaptation in climate-sensitive agriculture, water, livestock, fisheries and forest sectors in the Asia-Pacific region, which is home to two-thirds (743 million) of the world’s total poor people, has become indispensable to abate economic inequality as mostly the poor bear the brunt of natural disasters.
The minister highlighted that according to the world-acclaimed German-based research institute’s Global Climate Risk Index-2015, five of the top 10 countries most affected by climate change-induced disasters during 1994-2013 are located in the Asia-Pacific regions, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam.
Mushahidullah said that the recent United Nations (UN) report “Economic Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific” concluded that the region has borne the brunt of the physical and economic damage of increased disasters. It accounted for 38% of global disaster-related economic losses between 1980 and 2009, he added.
He said people in the regional countries are four times more likely to be affected by disasters than those in Africa, and 25 times more likely than in Europe or North America.
Quoting from the report, he said that the incidents of precarious weather extremes are occurring in the Asia-Pacific region more often than any other region of the world.
“This, however, gives the region, which accounts for nearly half of the world’s total heat-trapping global greenhouse gas emissions, a huge stake in mitigating global temperature rise while adapting to already rising climate change impacts in shape of floods, typhoons, cyclones, sea level-rise and heat-waves,” the minister highlighted.
Mushahidullah underlined that the Asia-Pacific countries urgently needed to boost investment in disaster management, climate-resilient infrastructures.
The minister said, “Investing in disaster risk reduction (DRR), as part of climate change adaptation, does make sense. Every dollar spent for DRR saves at least $4 in post relief and rehabilitation costs. We must realise that the climate change-induced extreme weather events, particularly floods, heat waves, tropical cyclones, shifting rainfall patterns, expanding summers and shrinking winters are scuttling efforts to haul the poor out of poverty and measures aimed for boosting the trajectory of economic growth.
Referring to the Asian Development Banks’ recent study ‘Confront Climate Change to Make Growth More Inclusive’, the minister said the report concludes that devastation caused by climate change-induced disasters is more skewed towards the poor, exacerbating escalating inequality in the Asia-Pacific region.
“Boosting efforts for tackling poverty and narrowing inequality through adaptation measures in the climate-vulnerable region should, however, lead growth in socio-economic development and improvement in climate resilience must anchor this effort,” Mushahidullah suggested.
He said more importantly, unhampered and just access to the economic opportunities, assets and financial services, and institutional capacity in regional countries would, for sure, enable the poor deal with impacts of climate change on their lives and livelihoods.
The minister believed that climate-resilient infrastructure in water, irrigation and sanitation in both rural and urban settings was also crucial in disaster-prone countries, which should be viewed at the heart of effective climate change adaptation and resilience development programmes in the regional countries.
He said that it is a matter of concern that climate change is not viewed as an urgent development agenda at the local level in most of the regional countries including Pakistan.
“Strengthening climate resilience at all levels to mitigate negative impacts of the climate change on socio-economic and poverty reduction gains in the region would require increasing levels of understanding about severity of climate risks/vulnerability of socio-economic sectors as well as institutional commitment at all levels,” he stressed.
Source: Daily Times | 29 June 2015
