Late action on climate change may bring severe impact – expert
JAKARTA – A climate change expert has warned that late action in addressing the issue of climate change will lead to a more severe impact and adaptation measures will be costly and even impossible to handle.
Rizaldi Boer, director of the Centre for Climate Risk and Opportunity Management in Southeast Asia and the Pacific of Bogor Agricultural University, said early action on the issue by aected countries is very important.
Citing Asian Development Bank figures, Boer said the cost of adaptation for agriculture and coastal zones will reach about $5 billion per year by 2020.
“If not seen as a very urgent issue, this may put us at risk of getting much more significant loss later, with increased threats to food security and sustainable development,” he said.
Asian countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam have been exposed to increasing trends of extreme climate hazards due to global warming and climate change.
Boer has recommended for authorities to increase their countries’ capacity in using climate forecast information for managing climate risk, particularly in agriculture management and development.
“They can also prioritize structural intervention programs like improvement of irrigation facilities or making possible the establishment of a new reservoir through the concerned government agency,” he said.
Boer cited decreasing crop productivity as a result of climate change, and pointed to elevated temperature, increasing rainfall variability and water salinity as the specific factors aecting crop yield.
“There is also the problem of new pests and diseases aecting the agriculture sector,” he said.
Boer said to compensate for the crop loss, one solution is “increasing planting intensity” which can be achieved through the construction of better irrigation facilities or reservoir.
An alternative could be accelerating the restoration or rehabilitation of lands in the rainfall catchment areas to ensure sustainable supply of water in the river during the dry season, he added.