Climate Crisis Could Ruin Asia's Economy

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The Asia-Pacific Climate Report shows the region’s GDP could be ruined by climate change by 2070. The report covers 46 nations–Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Mongolia; The Republic of Korea; and Taipei, China.Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and VietNam. The Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

Labor Reductions And Flooding

Most of the destruction would come from “sea level rise, river-based flooding, labor productivity, energy demand, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries were used to define shocks from climate change under a high-end emissions scenario.” The GDP drop could be as much as 17%. In the worst case, the report offers, GDP losses could reach 41% of regional GDP by the end of the century.

The problem with similar projections is that the researcher sifts through millions of data and makes assumptions that may not exist in a relatively small number of years. This means they are not highly useful for arguments about policy changes.