The Asia Pacific region must continue to grow economically to lift millions out of poverty, but it must also respond to climate change to survive. Their success or failure will have repercussions worldwide, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

The report says that in the face of climate change, countries in Asia and the Pacific “will need to change the way they manufacture goods, raise crops and livestock, and generate energy.”

This will mean “moving to greener, more resilient, lower-emission options that not only sustain the environment but also offer opportunities to the poor for employment and income.”

Growing first and cleaning up later is no longer an option, says the Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2012, “One Planet to Share: Sustaining Human Progress in a Changing Climate.” For details on the report, visit www.asiapacific-hdr.aprc.undp.org.

“The world’s common future will be hugely affected by the choices that are made in Asia and the Pacific on a low carbon growth path,” says Ajay Chhibber, UN Assistant Secretary-General, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.

What happens in this region–home to more than half the world’s population and half of the planet’s megacities–can make a global difference. The report says “countries of the developing Asia Pacific are much less locked into the old, carbon-intensive ways of production and consumption. Asia Pacific not only has the imperative, it also has the opportunity to manage development differently.”

There are some positive indications. China, for example is committed to lower its carbon intensity of GDP by 40-45 percent by 2020 compared to 2005. India is also committed to reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 20-25 percent by 2020 compared to the 2005 level. Indonesia has committed to cutting emissions by 26 percent by 2020.

Change

Economic growth in the region is primarily dependent on fossil fuel energy. An overwhelming share of the region’s total greenhouse gas emissions comes from energy generation and industrial production, along with agriculture.

The region has emerged as a global workshop for manufacturing to meet consumers’ needs elsewhere. Countries of developing Asia Pacific burn more than 80 percent of the world’s coal directly used by industry. Approximately 85 percent of the region’s primary energy comes from fossil fuels in the form of coal, natural gas and oil.

Asian countries account for 37 percent of world emissions from agricultural production, including through growing crops and raising livestock, land use changes and deforestation. The principal greenhouse gas emissions are nitrous oxide from fertilizers, methane from livestock and rice production and CO2 released when soils are ploughed.

Asia Pacific has a vast but unequal consumer market. Some people consume too little. In 17 countries, 10 percent or more of the population subsists on inadequate diets. The region is home to nearly 900 million of the world’s poor living in extreme poverty (on $1.25 dollars or less a day).

It is also a region of contrasts where there are more than 2.5 billion mobile phone subscriptions; yet half its population, or almost 1.9 billion people, lacks basic services such as access to flush toilets.

Raising rural resilience

In Asia and the Pacific, nearly 700 million people in rural areas live in extreme poverty and are exposed to a wide range of climate change impacts: from flash floods in mountain areas, to sea-level rises in river delta regions and the Pacific islands.

Rural communities receive relatively little support in terms of funds or services. For example, they find it difficult to market goods if they do not have all-weather roads and often do not have reliable and accurate knowledge on climate related issues. The report urges more investment in information and low-cost technologies. Examples: Mobile updates that keep farmers current on weather forecasts and disaster warnings, farm prices and other information that affects their daily lives in a changing environment.

The report also calls for particular attention to the needs and concerns of women in rural areas. Reason: They are still more dependent on agriculture than men, who have shifted in larger proportions to non-farm jobs. Women are less likely, for example, to be reached by agricultural extension services.