..Press Release................................ UNESCAP News Services

Date 31 August 2006
Information Note : N/31/2006

Action on climate change – a matter of economic survival

Climate change is an economic issue. Economists, politicians and other decision-makers need to take note of the fact that climate change can have potentially devastating economic impacts. Erratic weather patterns will include more pronounced drought and more severe storms. Some Pacific islanders have already had to adapt, or relocate, or are planning to leave their island paradises. Global studies show that climate change will decrease food security, since it will affect most of the region’s food basket and coastal areas and reduce marine productivity. It will also increase drought in desert ecosystems and cause more vector-borne and infectious diseases fostered by warmer and more humid conditions. Those living in arid and semi-arid areas will suffer more respiratory and cardio-vascular disease. Flooding and other knock-on effects will be exacerbated by human activities such as over-exploitation of natural resources and inappropriate land use.

Even in developing countries, rising oil prices make climate action compatible with economic development goals. Poorer Asian and Pacific developing countries are the least-equipped to mitigate and adapt to the potential effects of climate change. Public electricity and heat production are the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions, followed by the transport sector, which is the fastest-growing contributor. Mitigation measures must now include serious action on changing consumption patterns. The Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol is an under-utilized opportunity for developing countries to profit from action on reducing greenhouse gas emission and build more sustainable societies.

Climate change threatens an already scarce and precious economic resource – water. South and South-East Asian countries together with China have the most at stake. Many of these countries have high poverty rates in the region and also suffer from water scarcity. While planners focus on short-term solutions, the glaciers that feed the Ganges, Indus, Brahmaputra, Mekong, Thanlwin, Yangtze and Yellow rivers are diminishing. Increased floods in the next few decades will give way to permanently reduced river flows. Huge populations in India and other parts of South Asia, China and the dynamic economies that share the Greater Mekong river basin will be affected in only a few decades. Central Asia may be facing a similar situation, given that most of this subregion’s river systems are glacier- and snow-fed.

Climate change justifies a shift in the mindset of economic planners. Protecting the environment is often seen as a barrier to continued poverty reduction. However, this barrier must be transformed into an opportunity to embrace environmental sustainability as a necessary condition for maintaining economic growth. To this end, UNESCAP is actively promoting environmentally sustainable economic growth or “Green Growth”. UNESCAP is leading regional dialogue on future arrangements for the CDM to ensure more active participation by developing countries beyond 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol reaches the end of its term. Other areas receiving attention are indicators for the eco-efficiency of economic growth, sustainable consumption patterns and sustainable infrastructure development.

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