UN Climate Summit generates new momentum

The    landmark   Climate   Summit   convened   by   the   United   Nations Secretary-General  on September 23 in New York was unprecedented in terms of the participation  of  leaders,  the  private  sector  and  a  range  of  other stakeholders.  The  level  and scale of enthusiasm it generated augurs well for  global  climate  action  and for future generations. This new momentum must now translate into real action in Asia and the Pacific.
Leaders at the Summit  offered  commitments  that  will feed into the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Paris next year. Some categorically committed to cut emissions, and called for greater action to limit the rise in  global temperatures to less than 2.0 degrees Celsius. Initial commitments at  the Summit for the capitalisation of the Green Climate Fund amounted to more  than $2.3 billion, with new multi-stakeholder partnerships registered for  low  carbon  and  climate  resilient development finance, amounting to almost $200 billion. It's a good start, but much more is needed. To support the  public  commitments,  calls  have  been made for greater engagement by financial  institutions,  the insurance sector and institutional investors, who  hold  enormous  global and regional savings which can service the risk and  long-term  capital  requirements  of climate adaptation and mitigation projects.
The Summit also overwhelmingly supported carbon pricing as a tool to reduce emissions  and  to  improve  sustainability,  as  well  as  economic growth prospects.  Equally,  heartening  were the cross-sectoral, multi-stakeholder coalitions  which  emerged, from the Global Agricultural Alliance to secure food  for  rapidly  growing  populations,  to  the  dozens  of Governments, businesses,  civil society groups and indigenous peoples who pledged to end deforestation by 2030.
The  clearest  and  most pertinent message from the Summit was that climate change  is a global threat and must be tackled by global partnerships for a more sustainable future.
The  UN  Secretary  General  reminded us that "the human, environmental and financial  cost  of  climate change is fast becoming unbearable." President Obama  emphasised that the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of
action. No region of the world knows this better than Asia and the Pacific, where there is a compelling case for urgent climate action.
Between  1980  and  2009  the people of Asia and the Pacific shouldered the burden  of  85 per cent of global deaths and 38 per cent of global economic losses  due  to  natural disasters. Just weeks ago, heavy monsoon rains and floods  across  Pakistan caused more than 300 deaths and impacted more than 1.8  million  people.  Typhoon  Haiyan  caused  the death of more than 8000 people  in the central Philippines last year, with an estimated $15 billion in  damages.  We  are  witnessing  some  of  the worst natural disasters in recorded  history,  and  they  are  destroying the lives and livelihoods of millions across our region.
Resource and  carbon-intensive economies are also economically vulnerable. The Asia-Pacific region uses three times more resources to produce one unit of GDP (Gross Domestic Product)  than  the  rest  of  the  world.   It is not only the region most vulnerable  to  climate-related  disasters,  but  also  to  resource-price volatility. As resource costs rise, the economic impacts are most severe on the poorest and vulnerable in the region. More than 42 million people in
Asia and the Pacific were pushed back into poverty due to rising energy and food prices in 2011 alone.
Innovative  climate  action  to  improve  our  region's energy and resource efficiency  not  only  reduces  emissions,  but will also drive sustainable economic  growth in the face of rising resource prices, generating jobs and reducing poverty while increasing long-term resilience to natural disasters and the impacts of rising resource costs.
Turning  resource constraints and the climate crisis into opportunities for economic  growth and poverty reduction, Asia-Pacific countries have adopted pioneering   strategies   to   promote  green  growth  and  environmentally sustainable   approaches.
They have simultaneously  strengthened  regional  integration  and cooperation  to address risks and vulnerabilities, which include disasters, climate change and resource constraints, alongside improving trade, finance and investments, as well as physical infrastructure connectivity.
At  the  Summit, China affirmed its aim to reduce carbon emissions per unit of  GDP by 45 per cent compared to 2005. Fiji spoke of their green growth strategy, already  in place, and ambitions to generate all electricity from renewable resources  by  2030.  Malaysia  and  Indonesia  are  reforming  fossil fuel subsidies  to  encourage a shift to cleaner energy.
Mongolia plans to reach 20-25 per cent of  total  energy production from renewables by 2020. These are but some examples of the already strong regional climate actions taking place.
But  change  is  not  happening  fast enough. We need to massively scale up these  actions,  not  only  to  match  the magnitude and urgency of climate impacts,  but  also  to harness the economic growth and opportunities which climate action entails.
The  UN  Economic  and  Social  Commission  for  Asia  and the Pacific will continue  to  urge  leaders  in  the  region  to  seize  the opportunity to intensify  national  climate actions and commitments, and to work even more closely  together  to  make  our  vision of the sustainable, prosperous and resilient  future  we  want  a  reality.  Moving  the climate frontier from negotiations  and  commitment  to  real  action is not only urgent but also opens  a  new window of sustainable development opportunity for all in Asia and the Pacific.
 

Dr. Shamshad Akhtar is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCAP Executive Secretary. The article has been forwarded to the FE by UNIC Dhaka. moniruzzamanm@un.org