| Rising of sea level major concern in South Asian countries About 18 per cent of Bangladesh land will go under water and much of the Maldives would submerge following sea level rise at certain level, 'World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change' released yesterday in advance of the December meetings on climate change in Copenhagen said. "Rising sea levels are also of important concern in South Asia, which has long and densely populated coastlines, agricultural plains threatened by saltwater intrusion, and many low-lying islands," it said. The report said South Asian countries are facing daunting climate-related development challenges. "If developed countries act now, a 'climate-smart' world is feasible, and the costs for getting there will be high but still manageable," said the report administered by the World Bank. "High-income countries also need to act quickly to reduce their carbon footprints and boost development of alternative energy sources to help tackle the problem of climate change." It said advanced countries, which are producing most of the greenhouse gas emissions of the past, must act to shape climate future. "Developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty, but this depends on financial and technical assistance from high-income countries. A key way to do this is by ramping up funding for mitigation in developing countries, where most future growth in emissions will occur." "The countries of the world must act now, act together and act differently on climate change," said World Bank President Robert B Zoellick. "Developing countries are disproportionately affected by climate change - a crisis that is not of their making and for which they are least prepared. For that reason, an equitable deal in Copenhagen is vitally important." Countries need to act now because today's decisions determine both the climate of tomorrow and the choices that shape the future. Countries need to act together because no nation can take on the interconnected challenges posed by climate change alone. Global cooperation is needed to improve energy efficiencies and develop new technologies. Developing countries will bear most of the costs of the damage from climate change. Many people in developing countries live in physically exposed locations and economically precarious conditions, and their financial and institutional capacity to adapt is limited, says the report. "Already, policymakers in some developing countries note that an increasing amount of their development budget is being diverted to cope with weather-related emergencies." Geography coupled with high levels of poverty and population density make countries in the South Asia region particularly vulnerable to climate change. The report says that global warming of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures - the minimum the world is likely to experience - could result in permanent reductions in GDP of 4 to 5 percent for South Asia. The region's water resources are likely to be affected by climate change, through its effect on the monsoon, which provides 70 percent of annual precipitation in a four-month period, and on the melting of Himalayan glaciers, particularly in the western end of the range. Agricultural 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 report says the implications 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. |
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