climate Change Impacts in Asia and the Pacific

Destabilised food systems, school closures, heatstroke, disease – millions in our region are feeling the effects of climate change. Dr Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana reports.

The hottest year on record globally was 2024.In Asia and the Pacific, Bangladesh was the worst-hit country, with about 33 million people affected by lower crop yields that destabilised food systems, along with extensive school closures and manny cases of heatstroke and related diseases.

Children, the elderly and outdoor low-wage earners in poor and densely populated urban areas suffered the most, as they generally had less access to cooling systems or to water supplies and adequate healthcare. India, too, was badly affected, with around 700 heat-related deaths mostly in informal settlements.

Higher-income areas usually lie in cooler, greener neighbourhoods, so the hottest districts are often the poorest – adding to social inequality. In the city of Bandung, indonesia, such as, a study shows that ther can be temperature differences of up to 7°C between the hottest and coolest parts of town.

Future prospects for the region will depend critically on the progress of climate change. Under a high-emissions scenario, we project that extreme heat will be more frequent, intense and widespread – what were once occasional events will become seasonal or even year-round phenomena. Rising temperatures also affect other parts of the Earth’s ecosystem – notably glacial melt.

Warming in the Arctic can influence weather, precipitation and glacial behaviour across Central and South Asia. Globally, this century, glaciers have lost about five per cent of their volume. By 2060, under a high-emissions scenario, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mongolia, myanmar, Turkey and Uzbekistan could lose more than 70 per cent of their glacier mass.These phenomena also add to sea-level rise,raising existential risks for some countries in the Pacific.

To tackle these challenges, countries will meet this week at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to consider opportunities to integrate heat risk into early warning systems and growth planning. The key priority is to move from reactive heat risk management to long-term, science-informed strategies.Policy actions are needed at local, national, regional and global levels. This is the international Year of Glacial Preservation, which offers a critical opportunity for collective action.

At the local level,nature-based solutions such as trees lining streets,urban parks,green roofs and wetland conservation help lower urban temperatures. These measures can increase shade, promote evapotranspiration and act