Sustainable Development and Climate Change
Speech by
Xianbin Yao
Acting Director General
Regional and Sustainable Development Department
Asian Development Bank
At the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2008; Plenary Session 3: Impacts and Adaptation - Creating Local Capacity and Global Resources
7- 9 February 2008
Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, India
Introduction
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
While mitigation remains critical for the future, as noted by the scientific community and already being experienced by the ordinary people across the world, climate change is taking place. The world is already locked into significant levels of climate change, and its effects are already visible in the sea level rise, melting glaciers, and frequent storms and natural disasters. As we all know, the developing countries and the poorest people with fewer resources are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Substantial adaptation measures will be needed to improve the resilience of the vulnerable communities. Coastal cities, flood prone areas and low-lying infrastructure will need to be protected. The design of water supply systems, ports development or hydropower projects may need significant adjustments to deal with greater precipitation variability. There will be increased demands for drought and flood resistant crops, irrigation innovations and other technological and management measures.
The need and urgency for taking adaptation measures is increasingly getting better recognition. The Bali Action Plan calls for enhanced action on adaptation and sets out a list of actions required to be taken and notes the “urgent and immediate needs of developing countries”. Mitigation and adaptation are not either-or issues. There is no scope to delay either mitigation or adaptation measures. In fact, significant synergy can be derived by pursuing both together in several areas including building knowledge and capacity, developing technology, and mobilizing finances.
Actions and Issues
There is a need to integrate climate change adaptation into planning and investment at the project, municipal, national, regional and global levels. I would like to spend a few minutes to consider some key issues.
Building knowledge and capacity: Climate change adaptation is a new and developing area. There is an urgent need to build knowledge about nature and degree of risks facing different countries in the Asia and Pacific region and the world. Further, we need to build global, regional and local capacity for building knowledge and making proper investments in adaptive measures to reduce and mitigate risks. In particular, developing local capacity will be critical for successful adaptation by the developing countries. Key components of knowledge and capacity include collecting and interpreting information; developing and using new technologies; and deploying appropriately skilled manpower. Knowledge and capacities will need to span a range of disciplines, including climate science, biophysical sciences, engineering, economics and social sciences.
Financing and Insurance: Substantial funds will be needed to meet the knowledge, capacity and investment needs of adaptation. According to a UNFCCC report, the investment and financial flows needed for adaptation are likely to be tens of billions of dollars per year depending upon how much climate change is realized. Donor funded concessional funds remain important for adaptation measures, particularly for the low-income developing countries. The agreement reached in Bali on measures to make the UNFCC Adaptation Fund (financed from a 2% levy on CDM transactions) is a good beginning but it needs to be supplemented by other innovative means. We must develop new mechanisms for additional fund transfer to the developing countries. Taxing emissions can also provide funds for adaptation but there are questions like who should pay, how to collect it, and who should benefit? We must discuss and reach consensus on these issues early. There is also a need to expand catastrophic risk insurance coverage by increasingly involving the private sector.
Regulation: Consideration should also be given to having suitable regulatory measures to mainstream adaptation into development (e.g., climate proofing in projects from the design stage), where risk is high. As regulatory requirements create new markets, apart from ensuring protection against risks, these will also provide incentives to the private sector to reduce cost of new technologies through innovation, and mass production and innovation.
Refugees: We also face the possibility of millions of people in Asia and the Pacific becoming “climate refugees.” Funds will be needed to help dampen the financial impact on affected countries. There is a need to start advance planning and preparatory work to ensure that affected people are rehabilitated properly if and when the time comes.
ADB's efforts
Before I conclude, let me note that ADB has an extensive program covering both mitigation and adaptation. In particular, ADB's adaptation program has three main components. First, supporting national adaptation planning through better analysis of climate change consequences at the national and local levels and identification of cost-effective measures. Second, project-level “climate proofing” of existing infrastructure and future project designs to ensure that physical and hydrological assumptions take account of predicted impact of climate change. Third, supporting specific adaptation investments as defensive measures or steps to reduce the risks from climate change.
In closing, it is clear that we must begin adapting to climate change in a more comprehensive manner. And we have more political momentum to do this than ever before. But we need to meet the key requirements to adapt effectively to address the current and future risks: knowledge, financing and regulatory framework.
Thank you.
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