Climate change to hit Bangladesh badly: WB
Thursday, 17 September 2009
FE Report
South Asian countries, particularly Bangladesh, India and Maldives, are among the most vulnerable areas of the world to be badly affected by climate change, according to a World Bank (WB) report.
"Rising sea levels are a dire concern in the region, which has long and densely populated coastlines, agricultural plains threatened by saltwater intrusion, and many low-lying islands. In more severe climate- change scenarios, rising seas would submerge much of the Maldives and inundate 18 percent of Bangladesh's land," said the report-the World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change.
Releasing the report at WB head-office in Washington Wednesday, WB President Robert B. Zoellick said an increase of two degrees Celsius in global temperatures would lead to a four to five per cent drop in its gross Domestic Product (GDP), with India's agriculture production declining by 4.5 per cent to 9 per cent.
It said Bangladesh is already doing a lot to reduce the vulnerability of its population, with a highly effective community- based early warning system for cyclones and a flood forecasting and response program drawing on local and international expertise. But the scope of possible adaptation is limited by resources-its annual per capita income is $450, the report added.
South Asia suffers from an already stressed and largely degraded natural resource base resulting from geography coupled with high levels of poverty and population density, it said adding that water resources are likely to be affected by climate change, through its effect on the monsoon, which provides 70 per cent of annual precipitation in a four- month period, and on the melting of Himalayan glaciers.
It said agriculture productivity is one of many factors driving the greater vulnerability of developing countries. Extrapolating from past year-to-year variations in climate and agricultural outcomes, yields of major crops in India are projected to decline by 4.5 to 9 per cent within the next three decades, even allowing for short-term adaptations.
The implication of such climate change for poverty and GDP could be enormous given projected population growth and high dependence of livelihoods on rain-fed agriculture in the South Asia region.
Noting that 1.6 billion people in the developing world lack access to electricity, it said.
Those developing countries whose average per capita emissions are a fraction of those high-income countries need massive expansions in energy, transport, urban systems, and agricultural production. Increasing access to energy and other services using high-carbon technologies will produce more greenhouse gases, hence more climate change, the WB said.
South Asian countries, particularly Bangladesh, India and Maldives, are among the most vulnerable areas of the world to be badly affected by climate change, according to a World Bank (WB) report.
"Rising sea levels are a dire concern in the region, which has long and densely populated coastlines, agricultural plains threatened by saltwater intrusion, and many low-lying islands. In more severe climate- change scenarios, rising seas would submerge much of the Maldives and inundate 18 percent of Bangladesh's land," said the report-the World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change.
Releasing the report at WB head-office in Washington Wednesday, WB President Robert B. Zoellick said an increase of two degrees Celsius in global temperatures would lead to a four to five per cent drop in its gross Domestic Product (GDP), with India's agriculture production declining by 4.5 per cent to 9 per cent.
It said Bangladesh is already doing a lot to reduce the vulnerability of its population, with a highly effective community- based early warning system for cyclones and a flood forecasting and response program drawing on local and international expertise. But the scope of possible adaptation is limited by resources-its annual per capita income is $450, the report added.
South Asia suffers from an already stressed and largely degraded natural resource base resulting from geography coupled with high levels of poverty and population density, it said adding that water resources are likely to be affected by climate change, through its effect on the monsoon, which provides 70 per cent of annual precipitation in a four- month period, and on the melting of Himalayan glaciers.
It said agriculture productivity is one of many factors driving the greater vulnerability of developing countries. Extrapolating from past year-to-year variations in climate and agricultural outcomes, yields of major crops in India are projected to decline by 4.5 to 9 per cent within the next three decades, even allowing for short-term adaptations.
The implication of such climate change for poverty and GDP could be enormous given projected population growth and high dependence of livelihoods on rain-fed agriculture in the South Asia region.
Noting that 1.6 billion people in the developing world lack access to electricity, it said.
Those developing countries whose average per capita emissions are a fraction of those high-income countries need massive expansions in energy, transport, urban systems, and agricultural production. Increasing access to energy and other services using high-carbon technologies will produce more greenhouse gases, hence more climate change, the WB said.