Unmitigated climate change threatens human existence

Climate change impacts are increasingly visible in Asia, with South Asia being the most vulnerable sub region in Asia.

Thus combating climate change will be a critical development challenge for the region in the decades to come. Although average Green House Gas emissions per capita of South Asia is much lower than that of average non-Annex I countries, unmitigated climate change, in the long term, is likely to exceed the capacity of natural, managed and human systems to adapt. Therefore, even for the South Asian countries, high-carbon economic development is not a sustainable option.

There is an urgent need to increase public awareness on the urgency of combating climate change and for more discussions on the economic costs and benefits of unilateral and regional actions on mitigation and adaptation, as well as on supporting government and private sector actions to implement policies to adapt and mitigate the climate change, said Asion Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Richard Vokes, addressing the National Expert Workship for regional economic of climate change in South Asia held in Colombo recently.

The ADB has developed an extensive program to support its developing member countries in dealing with challenges arising from climate change, including interventions through financing, technical assistance, and capacity building.

This National Expert Workshop is a part of technical assistance and capacity building efforts of ADB.

ADB will continue to play an important role in meeting the challenges of climate change and environmental management in the Asia and Pacific region.