Southeast Asia risks severe slowdown if climate change ignored

 

 

Southeast Asia risks a severe slowdown in economic growth by the end of the century if it fails to take drastic steps to address climate change, the Asian Development Bank said in a report Monday (April 27).

 

Food security in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam could also be threatened, with climate change expected to lead to a dramatic decline in the production of rice - a staple for the region - from 2020.

 

"If the world continues business as usual, by 2100 the cost of climate change to the countries we looked at will be equivalent to 6.7 percent of GDP loss (annually)," ADB Assistant Chief Economist Juzhong Zhuang told a media conference.

 

He said this compares with a projected average global gross domestic product loss of 2.6 percent.

 

The findings were released in a new ADB report on the social and economic impacts of climate change in Southeast Asia, focusing mostly on Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam.

 

Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, ADB Vice President for Knowledge and Sustainable Development, said expensive investment in coastal zones such as building sea walls, as well as introducing heat resistant crops in the agriculture sector far exceeded the cost of doing nothing.

 

"Climate change can no longer be classified as an environmental issue, it represents a major social economic challenge for the Asia-Pacific region," she said.

 

"Climate change seriously threatens Southeast Asia's families' food supplies and financial prosperity."

 

The report said efforts in Southeast Asia to address climate change are made more difficult because of the global economic crisis - shifting governments' focus to short-term economic needs away from addressing climate change.

 

But it argues that countries in the region could develop "green stimulus" programs that help support the economy while also boosting employment and reducing poverty.

 

Emil Salim, lead economist and chair of the steering committee, said it was critical that Southeast Asian nations focus on increasing energy efficiency, and eventually looking toward low carbon energy as a way to combat climate change.

 

The former Indonesian environment minister said the challenge confronting Southeast Asia was the need to also deal with unemployment and poverty.

 

"For us, it is poverty alleviation first, it is to cope with unemployment first before you can talk about climate change," he said.