By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct. 15: South Asia’s handling of COVID-19 crisis reveals a dysfunctional regional cooperation mechanism to deal with the trans-boundary crisis implying a need for a revitalized regional assistance to deal with the climate crisis, experts said.
Speaking in a virtual meeting organised by South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics and Environment (SAWTEE), they emphasized that COVID-19 had diverted efforts away from climate action, which, if not corrected, would have devastating consequences for the region that remains highly vulnerable to the detrimental impacts of climate change.
Dr. Prabhu Budhathoki, Former Member of National Planning Commission of Nepal, said that the current pandemic had made it clear that the regional cooperation mechanism in South Asia did not function well at the time of crisis. "Hence, our governance mechanism has to change if we are to wage an effective fight against climate change," he said.
Dr. Eklabya Sharma, Deputy Director General of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) emphasized that South Asia, primarily given the significant presence of mountain regions, is one of the most vulnerable regions when it comes to climate change.
"Higher population density and the presence of large number of impoverished populations exacerbate the vulnerabilities in the region," he said.
Dr. Sharma further mentioned that the dire effects of climate change are already visible in the region in the forms of increased occurrence of floods, glacial lake outbursts, landslides, heat waves, and a general degradation of the ecosystem, and warned that a sole focus on COVID-19 at the expense of climate issues is the biggest challenge confronting the region.
Citing Pakistan’s experience in dealing with the COVID-19 crisis and lessons learnt through it, Dr. Shafqat Kakakhel, Chair of SDPI, Islamabad and Former Deputy Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), highlighted four key elements that South Asia has to strengthen to deal with climate change—resilience to deal with disasters; institutional arrangement for domestic, regional, and international coordination; identification of the most vulnerable communities and rapid dispatch of support to them; and effective use of information technology and social media to inform people.
He said that SAARC had launched many initiatives to foster regional cooperation on climate change issues but poor implementation had rendered them ineffective.
Dr. Athula Senaratne, Research Fellow and Head of Environment Economic Policy Research at Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, warned that COVID-19 impacts could crowd out climate finance for several years and hence slow the developments that had gradually been building up in South Asia.
He also pointed out that climate action was currently a peripheral issue in the region and until it became a mainstream issue there would not be effective collective responses to deal with the climate crisis.
“The current pandemic has highlighted the interconnected nature of global systemic risk and it has exposed significant vulnerabilities, including in food systems,” mentioned Dr. Lopa Saxena, Research Fellow, Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University, UK.