The Asian Development Bank has published a new study warning of the vulnerability of southeast Asia to climate, concluding that Vietnam is the most vulnerable country in the region. The report titled “The Economics of Climate Change in Southeast Asia: A Regional Review” concludes that regional economies are to contract by as much as 6.7 percent annually by the end of the century. Under current levels of action to mitigate climate change, the report concludes that Asian countries could see temperatures rise an average of 4.8 Celsius from the 1990 level and suffer drops in rainfall, more destructive tropical storms and flooding from rising seas that could displace millions of people and lead to the destruction of 965 square miles (2,500 square kilometers) of mangroves.
The also report provides an overview of current sources of climate change finance available, showing the sharp contrast between sources for mitigation and adaptation, and clearly showing the predominance of loans for finance. The outlook for developing countries gets gloomier. They can choose to get their economies further in-debt to address climate change, –a problem that they did not cause– or let climate change destroy their economies. Either option will have to soaked-up by the poor.
Storm waters in central Vietnam after Storm Lekima, 2007 (Photo: J.Hoffmaister)