A business-as-usual approach to climate change can prove to be "disastrous" for Asia, said the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in a report published last year. The organisation dreaded that such an approach will undo much of the phenomenal economic growth that has helped the region to alleviate itself from poverty.
The report from the Manila-based bank highlighted that continued dependence on fossil fuels will impact the most populous region of the world with many natural disasters including prolonged heat waves. Additionally, rising sea levels and changing rainfall patterns will disrupt the ecosystem, damage livelihoods and possibly even cause wars.
The report said that unabated climate change threatens to undo many of the development advancements of the last decades, not least by incurring high economic losses. Extreme climatic events could disrupt supply chains not only in the region but also in the rest of the world.
Despite stunning economic growth that saw Asian per capita incomes rise 10-fold in the past 25 years, Asia remains home to the majority of the world's poor people. This, along with the fact that large shares of its population inhabit low-lying coastlines, has made the world's largest continent particularly vulnerable to climate change. Myanmar, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Thailand are among the world's top 10 countries most affected by extreme weather events.
It is apprehended that parts of the continent could see mean temperatures shoot up to eight degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. This is because the global mean temperature rises by half of that.
But the region could avert climatic disasters by shifting to renewable energy sources. The 2015 Paris climate accord commits nations to keep global temperatures well below 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial times. The ADB vowed in 2015 to double its climate finance mitigation investments to US $6 billion by 2020, including US $2 billion to help countries shift to renewable energy.
As per the report while a 2.0 degrees Celsius rise will be difficult to manage, one can assume that an increase by 4.0 degrees Celsius would lead to humanitarian disasters in many nations. This in addition will result in unmanageable migration flows or locked-in populations.
The study projected additional heat-related deaths of nearly 52,000 elderly people annually across the region by the 2050s, nearly 8,000 extra diarrhoeal deaths in South Asia, and some 10,000 more malaria and dengue deaths in Asia.
Moreover, Asia as a whole would see sea levels rise by 1.40 metres within this century, nearly twice the projected increase under the Paris deal, and face more destructive cyclones. In this scenario, the region's coral reef systems would collapse from mass bleaching, with severe consequences for fisheries and tourism. Melting Asian glaciers would cause floods and water shortages. This will cause disruption in agriculture, and will increase dependence on rainfall to meet water needs.
Nevertheless, the best ways to weaken the impacts of climate change are still being overlooked.
Another study by researchers from Lund University in Sweden in 2017 found that teachers and policymakers are missing a golden opportunity of teaching people the best ways to cut climate change and reduce their carbon footprint.
The researchers analysed 39 peer-reviewed papers, carbon calculators and government reports to calculate the potential of a range of individual lifestyle choices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The study identified four ways of behaving that can have the most substantial effect in decreasing someone's climate impact. These are: (i) eating a plant-based diet, (ii) avoiding air travel, (iii) living without reliance on a car, and (iv) having smaller families.
For example, living car-free saves about 2.40 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, while eating a plant-based diet saves 0.80 tonnes of CO2 equivalent a year.
These actions, therefore, have much greater potential to reduce emissions than commonly promoted strategies like comprehensive recycling - which is four times less effective than a plant-based diet - or changing household light bulbs which is eight times less effective.
These are deeply personal choices. Still cutting down on climate change should be addressed by everyone as soon as possible, as its consequences are already affecting most parts of the world.
Sarwar Md. Saifullah Khaled is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General Education Cadre.
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