FAQs
What is the greenhouse effect?
Gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, play a crucial role in the energy balance of the Earth. They act like the glass roofs and walls in a greenhouse and trap heat within the Earth's atmosphere.
Without these gases, the surface temperature of the Earth would be about 35 degrees Celsius lower. This process is called the greenhouse effect, and the gases involved are called greenhouse gases.
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Why are concentrations of greenhouse gases changing?
The natural concentrations of greenhouse gases are regulated by the Earth. However, since the industrial revolution, the emissions of these gases have been significantly increased over a relatively short time. This is mainly due to the burning of fossil fuels.
At the same time, the ability of the Earth to absorb the major greenhouse gas - carbon dioxide - is being compromised by unsustainable use of land and forests.
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What is climate change?
Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth's global climate or regional climates over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. Changes may be driven by internal processes, external forces or, most recently, by human activities.
Recent climate changes have been attributed to global warming, which is caused by the increase in atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases, trapping heat near the Earth's surface.
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How is Asia contributing to climate change?
Most of Asia's greenhouse gas emissions are produced from the supply and use of energy. The International Energy Agency estimates that if current trends are maintained, energy use in Asia will increase 96% by 2030. Asia would then represent 37% of the world's energy consumption and produce 43% of global energy related carbon dioxide emissions.
Major causes for concern in Asia are the expansion of coal power, a major source of emissions, and the vehicle boom that is driving up Asia's demand for oil.
The region's unsustainable land use practices also result in the spewing of millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. In some Asian countries, deforestation is the largest source of emissions. An example is Indonesia, where deforestation accounts for more than three quarters of the country's greenhouse gas emissions.
Taken together with fossil fuels use, deforestation has propelled People's Republic of China (PRC), India, and Indonesia among the world's top 10 greenhouse gas emitting nations, even though their per capita emissions remain low.
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What are probable impacts of climate change in Asia and the Pacific?
Scientists have concluded that global warming will result in an increase in average global surface temperature. This will affect rainfall patterns, evaporation, cloud formation, surface temperature, and sea levels.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Asia and Pacific's subregions and ecosystems will be affected in different ways:
- Arid regions dependent upon dryland agriculture, such as in many Central Asian countries and western PRC, will face increased risks from drought.
- Small islands, such as the Cook Islands and Tuvalu, will be threatened from sea level rise, shortages in freshwater, and frequency and intensity of storms.
- Densely populated coastal deltas, such as those in Bangladesh, will be subject to increased flooding.
- Rivers dependent on glacial melt from mountain ecosystems, such as many in India, will be altered or dry up altogether.
- Tropical forested areas with high biodiversity, such as those in Indonesia, will experience increased extinctions in plants and animal species.
- Coastal and marine ecosystems, such as many in Southeast Asia, will suffer from the loss of coral reefs, wetlands, and mangroves.
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How could people's lives be affected?
The effect on people's lives could be devastating, with whole communities threatened.
The poor are expected to fare worst as they are already highly vulnerable to disruptions in their income and access to service. Also, they generally live and work in locations that are the most prone to natural hazards.
Climate change is also expected to disproportionately affect female members of households. For instance, floods and droughts may force women to walk greater distances to collect food and water.
Large-scale migration could some day become common, conflicts may break out, and death rates are projected to rise because of malnutrition and spread of diseases.
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What is ADB doing about climate change?
Under its new long-term strategic framework Strategy 2020, ADB is focusing on responding to climate change as part of the broader agenda of environmentally sustainable growth in Asia and the Pacific.
It is incorporating climate change into its core financing operations, working with development partners to help fill gaps in knowledge, experience, and financing. In the area of finance, we are pursuing three strategies - mobilizing concessional resources, promoting private sector investments, and harnessing market-based mechanisms.
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In what countries is ADB supporting climate change actions?
ADB is working throughout the region on climate change mitigation and adaptation activities through a number of innovative regional initiatives and loan and technical assistance projects.
ADB's climate change projects extend as far west as Azerbaijan, where we are implementing a run-of-river hydro project, and as far east as the Cook Islands, where we are conducting a climate proofing and risk analysis.
To the north, we are promoting energy efficiency in Mongolia, and to the south, we are promoting a geothermal project in Indonesia. A large number of our mitigation projects are located in the People's Republic of China and India.
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How is ADB promoting investments in clean energy?
ADB is active in promoting clean energy projects throughout the region.
For instance, a Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility aims to provide concessional resources to enable the use of efficient technologies and cover potential "first loss" from clean energy investments. In 2008, leveraged investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy surpassed our annual target of $1 billion.
ADB is also supporting fund managers willing to establish clean energy-focused private equity funds with the aim of investing in private companies and projects that are active in any aspect of climate change mitigation. Read more about ADB clean energy funds.
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What is ADB's involvement with the carbon market?
ADB is one of the few international institutions providing underlying finance for projects that can produce tradable emission reduction targets.
ADB set up the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Facility in 2003 to provide technical and administrative assistance in parallel to ADB loans for projects that qualified under CDM. With lessons learned from the CDM Facility, ADB established the Carbon Market Initiative in 2006 to help its developing member countries tap into a global carbon market estimated to be at $80 billion in 2008.
The extra resources would enable the developing countries to obtain new resources needed for clean energy and other greenhouse mitigation projects that qualify under the CDM.
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