Approaches to Climate Change in the Asia and Pacific Region - Term Paper Example

The distinction between climate change mitigation and adaptation is often discussed and debated. Discuss the relative importance of these two approaches to climate change in the Asia and Pacific region. (06.08.11) Abstract Many economies in Asia have been developing at a rapid pace in recent years. The speedy growth of sectors such as transport, agriculture, forestry and energy have created issues of climate change that have the potential to enhance sea levels and to gradually disturb the entire natural habitat that will create complications for future generations. This paper has analyzed the factors that have led to climate change in the Asia Pacific region and examined the issues in the context of the relative importance of climate change mitigation and adaptation in these regions. The paper has concluded that governments in Asia and the Pacific have realized the negative impact of decades of careless industrialization and depletion of natural resources and have now started initiating measures to address complexities that have arisen in the context of land, water and air pollution. Measures are also being taken to manage natural resources in sustainable ways. Introduction Climate mitigation is the action taken to reduce or entirely remove hazards and long term risks of climate change to human beings. Climate adaptation is the process of systems to make adjustments with climate change so that potential damages are moderated, opportunities are utilized beneficially and the impact and adversities are coped with. Asia is the world’s most populated region because of which it occupies a central place in debates relative to formulating global response towards climate change. In recent years, Asia has been characterized with rapid economic and industrial growth in sectors such as transport, agriculture, forestry and energy. In order to reduce the adverse impact of climate change, it is important for these sectors to change significantly so that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. It is anticipated that by the year 2030, Asia and the Pacific region as a whole will generate more than 50 percent of the world’s expected total carbon emissions, a major part of which will be created in India and China. It is in the context of the long term and short term impacts of climate change that debates have intensified in recent years about the distinction between climate change mitigation and adaptation. This paper will discuss the relative importance of these two approaches to climate change in the Asia and Pacific region. Methodology and Major Issues. The Need for Mitigation Mitigation is very important for the Asia Pacific region because if remedial actions are delayed in terms of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, the future generations will have to pay a heavy price. Risk of failure to prevent the hazards of climate change will increase if immediate mitigation actions are not taken. It is now well established that climate change will impact people’s health adversely and the poorer sections of society will be the worst sufferers. If mitigation efforts are not made in the Asia Pacific region, climate change will create hurdles in future attempts at reducing poverty1. It could also reduce many of the significant socio-economic strides that have been made by developing countries in Asia. Additionally, it is unfortunate that even the most painstaking measures will not reduce the harmful effects because considerable level of climate change and rise in temperature have already resulted from past emission patterns. Such circumstances warrant that vigorous adaption measures should be adopted during the coming decades so that the resistance of susceptible communities is improved. It is known in this context that most regions in Asia and the Pacific are vulnerable and there is need to have shared understandings and long term objectives that are executed with a strong leadership that has the capability to develop and facilitate required actions at every level and amongst all players. Challenges of Mitigation Energy plays a major part in emitting greenhouse gases although there are other major sources such as land use changes and fugitive emissions. Recent data from Indonesia suggests that carbon dioxide emitted by changes in land use accounts for over 75 percent of the nation’s present greenhouse gas emissions2. It appears that in order to efficiently deal with mitigation, the three areas of land use, fugitive emissions and energy have to be dealt with concurrently. In order to succeed in energy related mitigation efforts governments have to focus on improving energy efficiency and adopting zero carbon or low carbon solutions. In fact, many governments in Asia are already in the process of enabling new capacity building and investment finance mechanisms to improve energy efficiency, introduce renewable energy and sustainable transport systems, which can all be achieved through environment and clean energy programs. Efforts have been made by some Asian financial institutions such as the Asian Development Bank to fund these initiatives. Governments in India, China and Malaysia are already promoting capturing and using gas transmission networks, land fills and methane gas from coal mines. The United States Environmental Protection Agency is promoting the Methane to Markets Partnership initiatives to store methane and make constructive use of the same. The basis of mitigation strategy in the Asia Pacific region is to control demand for energy by encouraging economies to become more efficient and to meet their energy needs by adopting low carbon strategies. There is need to have efficiency in terms of end use across a broad range that includes several sectors such as transport, municipal, residential, commercial and industrial. Upon improvement in end use efficiency, a compounded and positive impact will occur across the entire energy sector value chains. It is anticipated that in most of the emerging economies in Asia, saving one unit of electricity will transform into savings of ten units in terms of energy inputs at power plants, thereby enhancing the mitigation potential of greenhouse gases. For instance, in China’s Guangdong Province, comprehensive demand side efficiency projects look at improving technology used in commercial and industrial equipments. Indonesia has taken initiatives in residential areas to replace over sixty million lighting fixtures with energy saving bulbs.3 The numbers of vehicles in many Asian countries are doubling every five to seven years, which means that energy consumption in transport is increasing rapidly and by the year 2030 will increase by three times. There will be need to support technology and policies that lead to fuel efficiency. Energy conversion can be improved on the supply side by generating energy through the use of renewable sources. In this regard, projects have been undertaken in Mongolia with financial assistance from Japan. A number of projects have been introduced in Vietnam, Pakistan, India and China that have upgraded distribution and transmission systems, thus cutting costs by half. Governments in Asia and the Pacific regions have understood the need to support projects promoting clean fuel. This is done by shifting from the use of fossil fuels to renewable sources. A new area is bio-fuels that include bio diesel and biomass based alcohol fuels, which are known to have reduced emission levels as compared to conventional sources.4 In keeping with mitigation efforts, it is very important to capture fugitive emissions. By promoting carbon mechanisms, methane utilization projects can be promoted, which allows climate change to be mitigated, whereby methane is initially converted into a less potent green house gas that offsets the use of high carbon fuels such as kerosene and coal. The Need for Adaptation The biggest challenges pertaining to adaption are raised through issues of sea levels in several parts of the Asia Pacific region. For instance, a rise in sea level in the Bay of Bengal will prompt mass scale migration into Bangladesh and India, which are already over crowded. Similar possibilities could occur in low lying big cities such as Shanghai, Manila, Bangkok and Calcutta as well in several coastal areas. There is every possibility that millions of people will be rendered homeless with increase in sea levels. It is estimated that even if there are no significant changes in the sea level, millions stand the chance of becoming climate change refugees if green house gas emissions continue to increase at their present pace. The need for adaptation is stronger in view of the threats to the continuing economic development and poverty alleviation efforts in the region. The negative impact of climate change has to be removed while countering and adapting to the long term impacts. The concept of adaptation to climate change is still considered to be new, but reinforcing these efforts will entail better preparedness for disasters and responses. Planning Towards Adaptation Many countries in Asia and Pacific are being funded through the Least Developed Countries Fund that supports and analyzes investment plans for local governments. A number of coastal cities such as Manila, Kolkata, Karachi, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok have received assistance in this regard from governments and financial institutions. People in these cities face enhanced risks of water shortage, heat wave, floods and other adversities arising from climate change. Vietnam has taken initiatives with the creation of advanced geographic information processes that will improve mapping and identification of areas under risk of storms and typhoons. Current infrastructures are being virtually climate proofed and designing of future projects is being done to ascertain that hydrological and physical characteristics are accounted for in terms of precipitation patterns. Such strategies will also allow predicting frequency and strength of storms, increase in sea level and other climate influences. Conclusions; It is evident that most parts of the Asia and Pacific region are in a dilemma concerning climate change. Asian countries are registering the fastest industrial and economic growth rates in their respective economies and such developments are also leading to unparalleled demand for natural resources and energy. Additionally, there have been marked shifts in economic, environmental and social patterns because of rapid economic growth in these countries, thus exerting added pressures on emission of green house gases. As a consequence, economic growth and the social structure are becoming increasingly threatened. Many small island nations in the Pacific have experienced substantial encroachment of the sea, which have forced them to adopt adaptation measures and to eventually think of migrating elsewhere. The destructive impact of droughts, floods and typhoons are becoming stronger in the entire region. Such developments have led governments in Asia and the Pacific to realize the negative impact of decades of careless industrialization and depletion of natural resources. Governments have started initiating measures to address complexities that have arisen in the context of land, water and air pollution. Measures are also being taken to manage natural resources in sustainable ways. Bibliography Freeman. C. W. (2010). Asias Response to Climate Change and Natural Disasters, Center for Strategic and International Studies. United Nations. (2008). Climate Change in Asia: Perspectives on the Future Climate Regime, United Nations University Press. Stern, N. (2006). The Economics of Climate Change. London: Stern Review. Wang, Xiaodong. (2010). Winds of Change: East Asias Sustainable Energy, World Bank Publications. Read More