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The Asia and Pacific region is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Unabated warming could significantly undo previous achievements of economic development and improvements of living standards. At the same time, the region has both the economic capacity and weight of influence to change the present fossil-fuel based development pathway and curb global emissions. This report sheds light on the regional implications of the latest projections of changes in climate conditions over Asia and the Pacific. The assessment concludes that, even under the Paris consensus scenario in which global warming is limited to 1.5°C to 2°C above preindustrial levels, some of the land area, ecosystems, and socioeconomic sectors will be significantly affected by climate change impacts, to which policy makers and the investment community need to adapt to. However, under a Business-As-Usual (BAU) scenario, which will cause a global mean temperature rise of over 4°C by the end of this century, the possibilities for adaptation are drastically reduced. Among others, climate change impacts such as the deterioration of the Asian “water towers”, prolonged heat waves, coastal sea-level rise and changes in rainfall patterns could disrupt ecosystem services and lead to severe effects on livelihoods which in turn would affect human health, migration dynamics and the potential for conflicts. This assessment also underlines that, for many areas vital to the region’s economy, research on the effects of climate change is still lacking.

In response to the dire social and economic consequences predicted to result from climate change—especially for the most vulnerable populations in developing countries— policy makers around the world are working toward a new long-term international framework to address this global challenge. Asia and the Pacific has the world’s most dynamic economies but also the greatest number of people at risk from climate change as well as the fastest-growing emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs)—the cause of global warming. Unless Asia and the rest of the world act to stabilize GHG emissions, poverty reduction efforts will experience new threats from climate-induced risks to the health, safety, and productivity of the poor. Such impacts are already affecting populations across the region, so even with aggressive actions, measures are needed to protect the most vulnerable from the adverse effects of sea level rise, melting glaciers, more frequent and severe climate-related natural disasters, greater variability of rainfall, and other predicted consequences of climate change.

A strong state reinforces investment yield, whether this results from public or private sector investment. Th e development needs of a weak state must diff er from those of a strong state. Th e fragile states of the Pacifi c are not the dynamic societies of Asia.1 Th ese may sound like obvious statements but the special needs of Pacifi c fragile states have not been apparent in earlier approaches to development in the Pacifi c region. Current Asian Development Bank (ADB) regional and country strategies and programs diff er from those of earlier years. Emphasis on maintaining project loan portfolios has been lessened and replaced by an emphasis on strengthening state operations, including testing and strengthening the demand for reform, and engaging civil society in development decisions. Th e shift is toward greater participation in development with the aim of building demand for good governance and reform to support performance-oriented delivery of public and private goods and services.

Verbesina encelioides (Cav.) Benth. & Hook. f. ex A. Gray, golden crownbeard, is a sunflower-like herbaceous annual plant ranging in height from 0.3 to 1.7 m with showy yellow flowers. It is native to the southwestern United States, the Mexican Plateau, and other parts of tropical America. Its invasive characteristics include high seed production (as many as 300-350 seeds per flower and multiple flowers per plant), seed dormancy, ability to tolerate dry conditions, and possible allelopathic effects. Disturbed areas with a relatively sandy substrate within warm, arid climate zones are vulnerable to invasion by V. encelioides. Veresina encelioides is found on all of the main Hawaiian islands except Ni'ihau but is particularly problematic on Midway and Kure Atoll, where it may threaten the habitat of nesting birds such as Laysan and black-footed albatrosses and Christmas and wedge-tailed shearwaters. Many other Pacific islands with similar habitats could be invaded by the V. encelioides. The plant has become naturalised in many other U.S. states, parts of South America, the Bahamas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic Puerto Rico, parts of Europe, Saudi Arabia, India, Ethiopia, Morocco, Botswana, Namibia, Israel, and Australia. It is a pest of various crops in the southern United States and India and is poisonous to sheep and cattle. Verbesina encelioides can be controlled via herbicides or mechanical means, but measures must be repeated due to the presence of persistent seed banks. Further research on V. encelioides is needed to understand its population dynamics, allelopathic properties, and impacts on natural ecosystems.

Recent studies have shown that the Cook Islands' social infrastructure has limited preparedness against weather-related vulnerability. The inherent geographical vulnerability of the country to climate change can be ameliorated by initiating integrated infrastructure and social development, including human resources development.