Explainer: Asia-Pacific's vulnerability to climate change calls for action

The 2024 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting is scheduled to kick off on Friday in Peru's capital Lima.

Leaders of APEC's current 21 member economies, including the United States and China, the two largest economies in the world, and major economies in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, are gathering for discussions on the region's development challenges, including how to tackle and adapt to the worsening impacts of climate change.

According to a 2024 report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), climate change poses a "profound existential threat" for Asia and the Pacific.

Globally, extreme weather events, including heatwaves, droughts, extreme rains and wildfires, are becoming stronger and more common, due to climate change.

Against such a backdrop, the Asia-Pacific is disproportionately affected.

Extreme weather 

UNDP's data show that the Asia-Pacific region experienced, on average, six natural disasters a year over the past three decades – about twice as much as developing countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and about three times more than in sub-Saharan Africa. 

In 2022 alone, extreme weather events are linked to over 7,500 deaths, affecting over 64 million people in the region, and causing economic damage estimated at US$57 billion. Countries with higher poverty rates are also the ones most susceptible to disasters. 

A 2023 report released by the World Meteorological Organization, the UN's weather agency, shows that Asia was the most disaster-hit region in the world last year as extreme weather and climate threats intensified amid global warming.

More than 9 million people in Asia were affected by the floods and storms, leading to over 2,000 casualties; meanwhile, a trend of increased heat waves in the region continued, according to the report. 

Climate migration 

According to the Center for Global Development, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C. and London, the Asia-Pacific is ground zero when it comes to disaster- and climate-related displacement.

UNDP's data shows that in 2022, disasters led to 32.6 million internal displacements worldwide, 41 percent higher than the past 10-year average. Most were due to weather-related hazards, with the Asia-Pacific accounting for 70 percent of the total. 

The World Bank's Groundswell report estimates up to 40 million climate migrants in South Asia alone by 2050. 

The Asia-Pacific has been on the frontline of the climate crisis, but at the same time the region is also at the forefront of climate solutions. 

In addition, public concern about climate change is high in the region, as is support for ambitious climate action. 

The upcoming APEC meeting is expected to offer a platform to explore further actions on how to mitigate and adapt to the consequences of a warming globe.

(Cover: Staff members at the APEC media center, Lima, Peru, November 12, 2024. /CFP)