Asia needs to spend much more to adapt to climate change and limit its damage, bank study says

BANGKOK (AP) — Countries in Asia will suffer worse damage from the climate crisis than other regions and are falling far behind in spending on improvements to limit the damage and adapt to changing weather patterns and natural disasters, the Asian Development Bank said in a report released Thursday.

The report said financing needs in developing Asian countries to cope with climate change range from $102 billion to $431 billion a year. That far exceeds the $34 billion committed to those purposes in 2021-2022, the Manila, Philippines-based regional development bank said.

Developing Asia accounted for nearly half of all global emissions in 2021, the latest year for comprehensive data, with China accounting for two-thirds of that and South Asia nearly 20%, the report said. That’s because even though emissions per person remain far lower than in Europe, Japan and North America, it is the world’s most populous region, home to about 70% of all human kind.

Most countries in the region have ratified treaties on climate change and presented national plans to cut their carbon emissions, but most also still lack clear road maps to reach “net zero” carbon emissions, the report said.

Countering moves toward greater reliance on renewable energy such as solar and wind power, regional governments were providing $600 billion in support for fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal in 2022, it said. The subsidies make fuels cheaper, discouraging a shift to cleaner energy.

The report noted that the rate of sea level rises is about double the global average in the Asia-Pacific and about 300 million people in the region would face the risk of coastal inundation if sea ice in Antarctica collapses. Worsening storm surges also mean that China, India,