ASEAN Roll Up Their Sleeves to Fight Against Climate Change
26 September 2019
Key Points
Climate change has disastrous consequences and affects all countries. Southeast Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions where countries are affected by climate change. A relentless number of natural disasters continue to strike the Asia Pacific, from cyclones and floods to droughts and heatwaves. The Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2019 published by UNESCAP found that Asia Pacific climate disasters are hitting the most deprived and marginalised communities, driving them further into poverty. The projection has shown that 56 million people could live in extreme poverty by 2030, but the figure could double to more than 123 million without practical steps being implemented by policymakers across the Asia Pacific to increase the public capability to mitigate the threat of catastrophe.
Distrusted of not doing enough to prevent deforestation, the world now blaming both governments on the result of forest fires, especially for Indonesia. The drought also happened in the Mekong countries. The Mekong is reeling from the combined onslaught of climate change, sand-mining, and incessant damming of the river, which combined to help cause the worst drought recorded in over 100 years.
The scale of necessary transition is unprecedented. Stimulating the low-carbon development in the energy sector is critical for generating more business and policy indications for green finance investment. Renewable energy in most parts of the world is now cheaper than fossil-fuel production. In addition, renewables could provide millions of people to more competitive and more efficient access to affordable clean energy.
