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Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
On behalf of the Asian Development Bank, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy at the passing away of former President, Roh Moo-hyun.
I would like to thank Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo and Professor Kim Hyung-kook, Co-chair of Presidential Committee on Green Growth for inviting me to this East Asia Climate Forum. I am delighted to have this opportunity to discuss the challenges we now face in addressing climate change and generating and financing low-carbon growth in Asia and the Pacific. I am also pleased to share with you some of ADB's actions and experiences in promoting low-carbon green growth in the region.
I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to the Government of the Republic of Korea for hosting the Forum, and to the Korean people for their warm and gracious hospitality. I am also pleased to see here so many officials from ADB's member countries together with representatives from our development partners, nongovernment organizations, the private sector, and other stakeholders. I thank all of you for joining us today for this important event.
Responding to the Global Climate Change Crisis
It is now widely accepted that increased concentrations of human-caused greenhouse gases (GHGs) in our atmosphere are linked to rising global temperatures. Such rising temperatures will have adverse consequences on people's health, safety and livelihoods around the world, with the poor disproportionately affected. The latest scientific evidence suggests that this process may be occurring even faster than previously predicted. Clearly the entire global economy must reduce its reliance on the combustion of fossil fuels, or else the negative impacts of climate change will seriously drag down global economic growth. In Asia and the Pacific, climate change threatens to undermine the considerable social and economic progress achieved in recent years. Responding to climate change has therefore become a central element of the ADB's work.
Intense negotiations are underway towards a new agreement on how the world will collectively address the climate change challenge. Global greenhouse gas emissions must be cut substantially. And it is critical to reach a common understanding on transitioning to low-carbon growth - in both the developed and developing worlds - and preparing for the inevitable adverse impacts of climate change. Mitigation and adaptation measures must also be backed by technology transfer and international financing. Unless decisive actions are taken, it is likely that the effects of climate change will take millennia to reverse, and will threaten the core of our planet's life support system, upon which we all depend.
But there are promising signs that we will see meaningful progress in Copenhagen later this year. The European Union has committed to significant emission cuts by 2020; the United States has rejoined the negotiations and is considering its own measures to greatly reduce emissions over time. Progress also has been made in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations - and also through the G20 and other forums - on identifying the adjustments needed in the energy and transport sectors of developing countries, as well as ways to reduce deforestation.
World economic leaders have rightly focused their attention on addressing the global economic downturn. At the same time, a number of countries have sought ways to stimulate demand while simultaneously laying the groundwork for more climate-friendly development - so-called "green stimulus" measures. I believe such programs can help countries generate long-term economic growth and sustainable jobs as they transition towards clean, innovative, resource efficient, low-carbon technologies and infrastructure. ADB and the other multilateral development banks have been encouraged to contribute to such efforts.
The Republic of Korea has garnered global attention by choosing such a path through its 'Low Carbon Green Growth' national development strategy. This new development paradigm is meant to decouple economic growth from further increases in greenhouse gas emissions. It also seeks to create jobs and new sources of economic advancement based on the development and deployment of clean technologies. We commend the Korean Government for its important role in this area. Our region - and the rest of the world - is watching with great interest your country's efforts to address these dual crises.
It is encouraging to see that many Asian and Pacific countries have recently developed action plans to respond to climate change - both for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, and for coping with the impacts of climate change on their economies. Such efforts are in keeping with Asia's vital role in helping to stimulate global and regional economic activity and move development patterns in more climate-friendly directions.
I highlighted the primacy of addressing the climate change issue to our Board of Governors at ADB's Annual Meeting in Bali early this month. As Asia assumes a larger role on the world stage, it must also assume its responsibility for addressing other pressing global problems-like climate change. Unless proactive steps are taken, developing Asia's share of global carbon emissions could rise to more than 40% - quickly making Asia the main driver of global climate change. Thus, at a time when investment is desperately needed to stimulate economies, we need to target those investments to where they can help establish the basis for economic growth that is more environmentally sustainable.
We already know what needs to be done. We need to produce and use energy much more efficiently. Doing so is also a smart policy, because it can immediately lower costs and enhance economic competitiveness. We need to introduce new modes of transport - such as urban public transport systems - that will rely less on fossil fuels while encouraging urban development patterns that reduce our need for mobility. We also need to pro-actively encourage mass, rapid, and efficient public transport system in our urban centers so as to discourage multiplicity of private transport, thus, saving energy and effectively arresting proliferation of the use of fossil fuel. Given the lifespan of new infrastructure, our actions today are crucial, because they will lock in the region's greenhouse gas emission patterns for decades to come. We also need to look carefully at rural development patterns and land use change - especially deforestation - to see how sustainability can be increased. This includes compensation for carbon sequestration and other ecological services provided by forests, rangelands, wetlands, marine resources, and improved farming techniques.
With respect to climate change adaptation, we must quickly improve our understanding of the new risks to development and find the most cost-effective measures to cope. This is a new area of analysis for all of us, drawing upon a rapidly evolving scientific understanding of the pace and scope of climate impacts. For example, ADB has joined with the World Bank and Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) to sponsor a study on the likely impacts of climate change on several large Asian coastal cities - Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Bangkok and Jakarta. We are also working with the Global Environment Facility, the Governments of the US and Australia and international nongovernmental organizations to support climate change adaptation analysis and responses in the six Southeast Asian and Pacific countries participating in the Coral Triangle Initiative.
Last month, we completed a study examining the likely impacts of climate change on the largest economies of Southeast Asia. The findings are very troubling. Using analysis similar to that employed in the groundbreaking Stern report, we found that by the end of this century, the countries of Southeast Asia will be losing 6.7% of their GDPs to coastal flooding from rising sea levels, more intense storms, decreased agricultural production, heat waves, higher health risks and many other adverse impacts.
While it may sound as if these changes are a long way off, that 6.7% fall in GDP will not suddenly appear in the year 2100! In fact, we are already seeing the consequences of changes in temperature and weather patterns that can be attributed to climate change, and which carry very real costs. For example, due to the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas and mountains of Central Asia, river flows are no longer extending as far into early summer as before. This is altering patterns of water availability in some of the most densely populated and irrigation dependent parts of the world.
Climate Change Response a Priority at ADB
Given the urgency of the issue, ADB has made addressing climate change a top priority. We recognize not only that it represents a threat to development in our region, but also that the countries in our region can respond and thereby reshape their economies to make them more competitive and sustainable. Last year, we provided nearly $1.7 billion for projects with clean energy components, far exceeding our $1 billion target. Among others, our initiatives include wind power projects in the People's Republic of China and India, more efficient power transmission in Azerbaijan, green power development in Bhutan, and energy-efficient lighting for low-income households in the Philippines. With transport as a major area of concern, we are helping to develop energy-efficient mass transit systems in several Asian cities. And we support several initiatives that integrate forest protection and sustainable land use while capturing benefits from carbon sequestration.
A new $40 million ADB Climate Change Fund created from our own resources has already programmed most of these funds. We have also created a $40 million Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund - partly in acknowledgement of the increased risk of damages from weather-related natural disasters our developing member countries will face as a result of climate change. To promote the more rapid transfer and diffusion of new, low-carbon technologies, we are actively pursuing establishment of a low-carbon marketplace to bring together technology holders and users in our member countries to facilitate such transactions.
Concluding Remarks
In all of these efforts, ADB welcomes partnerships with both developed and developing nations, as well as with leading institutions around the world. We are confident that shifting to a low-carbon economy does not mean sacrificing competitiveness and economic growth; but rather, is an investment in long term energy security and sustainable economic development. We are confident that through committed and coordinated action, the Asia and the Pacific region can adopt a more sustainable development pathway and overcome the additional burden to poverty reduction efforts caused by the climate crisis.
The "Seoul Initiative for Low Carbon Green Growth of East Asia" envisions a new low-carbon green growth paradigm not only for Korea but other countries in Asia to attain economic growth while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. ADB supports the success of this initiative. Achieving our common goals on climate change and low carbon growth will require enhanced cooperation, tremendous determination, and political will. It will require working together, and ADB is ready to do its part.
There is much yet to do in the region to address these complex issues. During ADB's annual meeting in Bali, I announced the establishment of an advisory group of eminent persons who are internationally recognized climate change experts to help us consider innovative low-carbon development programs relevant to the region in the medium and long term. But we must continue to stress that such a massive global challenge can only be addressed through a concerted, cooperative global effort. We must take every possible action to support successful conclusion to negotiations at Copenhagen in December of this year.
While the challenges are huge, I believe the climate change is also an opportunity - an opportunity for our region and the world to fundamentally restructure our thinking about and investments in economic development to bring about a more sustainable future.
Thank you all very much again.