SINGAPORE: The Asia-Pacific region has become the largest victim of climate change as roughly 70 percent of the natural disasters, believed to be caused by global warming, struck this region, a regional forum report said Sunday.

Climate change is believed to contribute to the increasing number of natural disasters, with developing nations experiencing the most adverse effects, the Secretariat of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) said in a report released here at the opening of the forum’s annual Leaders’ Meetings. But it did not give the timeframe in which it conducted the research.

Source: China Daily

APEC leaders are widely expected to call for further cuts in energy consumption amongst themselves at this year’s summit. In 2007, APEC leaders proposed a regional goal to reduce energy intensity by at least 25 percent by 2030.  The Secretariat said APEC economies account for approximately 60 percent of the world energy consumption, which is expected to continue to rise as the region becomes increasingly industrialized and more people move from the countryside to cities.

A related priority should be to get the Indonesians to cut down on their forrest burning.  The failure of the Indonesians has the most direct and immediate impact to region.  While Indonesia has laws to protect forests and limit agricultural burning, they are poorly enforced. Forest management in the country has long been plagued by corruption and lack of political commitment. Underpaid government officials combined with the prevalence of disreputable businessmen and shifty politicians, has traditionally meant that logging bans go unenforced, trafficking in endangered species is overlooked, environmental regulations are ignored, parks are used as timber farms, and fines and prison sentences never come to pass. 

Even if Indonesia agrees to cut down on energy consumption, will there be less burnings?  I think not.  Unless much more wealth trickles down to the rural folks, the government will not be able to stop the hungry from doing what it takes to feed their families.  Even if it means destroying the earth.

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