Science: May 11, 2012

Countries in Asia and the Pacific have to strike a balance between increasing prosperity and rising emission as their success or failure will have repercussions in all, a final report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said.

"The Asia-Pacific region should continue to grow economically lift millions out of poverty, but also to respond to climate change to survive. Growing first and cleaning later is no longer an option, according to" One Plant share: sustaining Human Progress in Changing Climate, "released by the UNDP on Thursday.

"The world's common future will be greatly affected by the decisions that are made in Asia and the Pacific Ocean on a low carbon oath," said Ajay Chhibber, UN Assistant Secretary General, UNDP.

"What is happening in this region - which is home to more than half of the world's population and half of the planet's megacities - can make a global difference. The report says that" the countries of the developing Asia-Pacific are much less locked into the old, carbon-intensive modes of production and consumption, "the report said while arguing that countries will need to change the way they manufacture goods, to raise crops and livestock and to generate energy.

China made to lower their carbon intensity of GDP by 40-45 per cent of 2020 to the 2005 level. India is also committed to reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 20-25 per cent by 2020 compared to 2005 level, and Indonesia cut its emissions by 26 percent by 2020.

The report says that about 40 per cent of Asia Pacific population lives in urban settlements. Asian cities also tend to be densely populated with 6,500 people per sq km, compared to 4,500 in Latin America and 4000 in Europe. Cities with a high concentration of people is likely to be most affected by climate change as was evident during the devastating floods in Mumbai (2005), Jakarta (2007), Brisbane (2010-11), and Bangkok in 2011.

"By 2026, Asia's population is likely to get this properly tipping point: by then, more than half of its population will be urban, and in 2050 the proportion could reach two-thirds," says the report. Actions in the cities will be "make or break" for climate change.

Cities are highly vulnerable to climate change as a whole and is home to a significant number of poor, located in informal settlements or neighborhoods that are highly exposed to climate risks. Beyond suffering the effects of climate change,, cities are themselves adding to global warming as a major emitter of greenhouse gases. "Cities generally occupy only 2 percent of the land, however, contribute more than two-thirds of GG mainly through transport and the use of energy," according to the report.

Waste also contributes about 3 percent of global output. In Asia-Pacific cities, with increasing affluence, the middle and upper classes are generating increasing volumes of solid waste, he added.

"However, despite their vulnerability to the effects of increasing temperature, cities can learn to navigate a lower carbon-efficient way and to adapt to a warmer world," the report said.

Science

Friday, May 11, 2012

Asia-Pacific countries must respond to climate change: UNDP

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