Asian Country Reports
Nations in Asia and the Pacific are especially concerned about the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere because of the potential effect on the region from climate change related shifts in patterns of storms, floods and droughts as well as a rise in sea level. As this region has been historically vulnerable to fluctuations in the monsoons, the El Nino Southern Oscillations and tropical cyclones, Asian policymakers have shown considerable interest in the implications of climate change. A $1.45 million cooperative eight-nation study, funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Governments of Australia, Japan and Norway, and organized by the Climate Institute, details the possibly profound impacts of greenhouse-induced climate change and sets forth a wide range of cost effective measures to deal with them.
The eight countries participating in the massive ADB international project - Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam - contain one-fourth of the world's population and probably an even larger portion of those most vulnerable to climate change. Large numbers of residents live in low coastal areas or river deltas where sea level rise and flooding are the likeliest devastating consequences of rises in global temperatures as the climate shifts.
This project was initiated by the Office of Environmental Affairs of the ADB and carried out by the Climate Institute and its 12-nation team of over 60 experts. Each country team identified the significant, potentially disruptive impacts of climate change, chose policy options to combat sea level rise, depletion of forests, etc., and national strategies for implementing the options. Each government approved the scope of the country study. These study findings and recommendations were presented at national workshops and accepted. At two region-wide meetings - in Manila in July 1992 and Bangkok in March 1993 - Regional Study team members and officials of participating governments and international agencies discussed common methodologies and strategies. Developed over 27 months the study findings have been presented to and endorsed by the governments of the eight participating nations.
The impact studies assessed options to cope with climate change and proposed national response strategies, undergirded by climate scenarios and impacts methodologies provided by the international team led by the Climate Institute and by population and economic growth estimates developed by the country teams.
For more details in each countries: