INCHEON (SOUTH KOREA): Asian Development Bank’s Director General for Central and West Asia, Yevgeniy Zhukov has said that climate change was expected to have severe impacts in the CAREC region which includes Central Asia, Mongolia, Pakistan, China, and the South Caucasus.
Addressing a press conference while launching a study here at the sidelines of 56th ADB annual meeting, he urged Central and West Asia and its neghbouring countries to address the increasingly severe impacts of climate change that could lead to water scarcity, food insecurity, and even conflict in the region.
CAREC 2030: Supporting Regional Actions to Address Climate Change, is a scoping study on climate challenges and opportunities in member countries of the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program.
According to the report the year 2022 has witnessed particularly dramatic and deadly examples of the impacts of climate change in the region, including the devastating floods in Pakistan, punishing droughts in Afghanistan and China, days and even weeks of excessive heat, and cross-border conflict over scarce water resources in Central Asia.
“The recent, intense weather events in Central and West Asia show that we need to take urgent, collective action,” he said while addressing a press conference while launching a study here at the sidelines of 56th ADB annual meeting.
Zhukov e said, countries in the region must work together to cut greenhouse gas emissions, ramp up climate resilience, and manage precious, shared natural resources for the good of all.
Higher-than-average temperature rises are likely to lead to greater water scarcity, expanded desertification, and more extreme weather events like floods and droughts, according to the study.
He said, in Central Asia, a water supply gap of 37% will occur by 2050 unless irrigation systems and other critical water infrastructure are upgraded and modernized. This gap could lead to lower agricultural productivity, more food insecurity, worse health outcomes—and potential conflicts over scarce resources.
The study recommends that the CAREC Program should develop a climate change strategy defining priority sectors for collaboration, outline projects with the most mitigation- and adaptation-potential and propose a facility to finance those projects.
Publicizing a common position among CAREC members at global climate negotiations such as COP, will also strengthen the region’s collective call for climate action, according to the study.
“While climate change is the defining challenge of our times, there is also an unparalleled opportunity in the ‘new climate economy’,” said ADB Director for Regional Cooperation in Central and West Asia Lyaziza Sabyrova.
“Deploying more clean energy will create new jobs and climate-resilient agriculture will boost farmers’ livelihoods. CAREC is helping to strengthen collaboration between member countries, development partners, and the private sector to make these green approaches and technologies more accessible,” she added.
