Manila, other Asian cities vulnerable to climate change

MANILA, Philippines – Manila and several other key cities in Asia are highly vulnerable to rising sea levels, floods and other effects of climate change, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

On the “at risk list” of the ADB are Bangkok, Dhaka, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Kolkata, Mumbai, Shanghai and Yangon.

ADB Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Unit head Preety Bhandari said even inland cities in the region can suffer sudden devastation from extreme weather phenomena like typhoons. Rising temperatures and other extreme weather changes can also damage crops and livelihoods.

Cities are the centers of economic growth in Asia and the Pacific, generating 80 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in most countries.

Approximately 1.2 billion Asians will move to cities over the next 35 years, requiring the construction of new homes, roads, as well as water and electricity networks.

City leaders need to make sure existing and future infrastructure can cope with increasingly frequent disasters like Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy), which killed hundreds and caused an estimated $100 million in damage in the Philippines in 2009, or Cyclone Pam in March 2015, which flattened 90 percent of houses and destroyed critical water and food supplies in Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila.

“Climate proofing is crucial. All ADB’s projects are assessed for climate risk, and ADB is also working toward integrating management of disaster risks while building bridges, power plants or other infrastructure,” Bhandari added.

In 2014, ADB approved $1.97 billion in financing for 22 urban development projects, taking total urban lending to just over $24 billion.

ADB said city planners should make sure systems in place interact with one another so that one vulnerability won’t undermine the rest of the urban network. For example, climate-proofing a school is pointless if roads leading to the school are impassable.

This is a key goal for ADB in Bangladesh, for example, where a 1.5-degree Celsius increase in temperature and four-percent increase in precipitation are forecast to cause the sea level in the Bay of Bengal to rise by 27 centimeters or more by 2050.

The $52-million Coastal Towns Environmental Infrastructure Project of the ADB is financing climate-resilient municipal infrastructure, such as drainage, water supply and sanitation systems in eight vulnerable coastal secondary cities. –Ted Torres (The Philippine Star)