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New Delhi [India], March 11 (ANI): There is no doubt that Asia is becoming the fastest growing continent in the world. Ugur Turan writes, anticipating new trade routes, efforts to develop sustainable systems and the importance of a green transition amid growing demands for energy, food and security.
From North Asia to the Indian Ocean, from East Asia to the Aegean Sea, all these are issues of deep concern to the members of CICA. However, how realistic are countries’ ambitious carbon-neutral plans based on their green transition goals? In this regard, CICA provides its member countries with confidence-building measures, dialogue, connectivity, synergy and best practices through its five dimensions to achieve its goals.
Ugur Turan, Environmental Expert, CICA Secretariat. The expert worked as a researcher for international organization projects in China and Turkey.
At the 6th CICA Summit to be held in Astana on October 12-13, 2022, the honorable Heads of State or Government and high-level representatives highlighted common issues including addressing climate change and CICA’s environmental dimension facing the future. The importance of cooperation. Why is the environmental dimension so important to the future of the CICA region?
Read also | Bilawal Bhutto Zardari admits Pakistan’s inability to draw attention to Kashmir at the UN.
CICA’s environmental dimension has three priority areas: sustainable development, environmental protection and natural disaster management. Each priority area has its coordinators and co-coordinators. For example, Thailand is the coordinating country for sustainable development, Mongolia is the coordinating country for environmental protection, Bangladesh and China are the coordinating countries, Iran is the coordinating country for natural disaster management, and Bangladesh is the coordinating country.
According to the updated CICA Confidence-Building Measures Catalogue, member states have clarified the cooperation priorities for implementing CICA’s CBMs in the environmental field, such as sharing information on best practices in national environmental protection and sustainable development policies. , to exchange information on natural and industrial disasters in these countries that they believe may affect their neighbours.
In addition, seminars, workshops, conferences and training are held within the priority areas of CICA’s environmental dimension. According to the authors, in general, the topics covered by the harmonization and harmonization of the country are green transition, sustainable development, low-carbon development, waste management, carbon market, natural disasters and circular economy.
Recent history shows that Asia faces various climate events and natural disasters. CICA members are affected by extremely hot weather conditions, droughts and floods in 2022 and earthquakes in early 2023. Pakistan, for example, had a challenging year due to floods. The disaster displaced at least 7 million people and killed more than 1,700, according to the World Bank. Losses from floods in Pakistan were estimated at US$30 billion.
Additionally, the World Health Organization reports that more than 7.1 million Bangladeshis will be displaced by climate change by 2022. China, India, Thailand and the Middle East also struggled last year because of climate change. Recently, the world has experienced a series of devastating earthquakes in Turkey. In the wake of the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, the economic toll of the climate crisis and natural disasters has been factored in, and the question of how vulnerable the country’s future is has come to the fore.
CICA covers a wide geographic area, so various environmental characteristics are observed. Member States are taking a number of actions to ensure sustainable development and environmental protection. Major environmental issues in Asia include desertification, climate change, water scarcity, deforestation, earthquakes and forest fires. Indeed, there are CICA countries with fragile environments. According to Notre Dame’s Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) Vulnerability Index score, Afghanistan ranks 168th and Bangladesh 154th among the most vulnerable member countries. Pakistan ranked 147th, Cambodia 133rd and India 132nd. The index assesses a country’s vulnerability, sensitivity and capacity to adapt to climate change. There are 177 countries on the list, and the countries with the highest ranking and close to zero have strong climate change adaptation capabilities. The highest ranking CICA member countries include Israel at 14th, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Turkey tied at 28th, followed by Kazakhstan at 33rd, the United Arab Emirates at 40th and Qatar at 44th.
The negative economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has brought countries closer to developing new solutions. While developed and developing countries have different agendas, governments are shifting their economic goals toward efficient systems that align with the Sustainable Development Goals. The green transition is one of the most prominent examples of this.
Countries aiming to decarbonize their economies are increasing investments in areas such as green technologies, carbon capture, mitigation and adaptation, circular economy and water management. Energy diversification is one of the important steps for energy security.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference is of great significance in raising awareness and jointly responding to the extreme environmental events that the world has faced in recent years.
For example, CICA member Egypt hosts COP27 in 2022.
One of the results drawn here is that, for the first time, countries have decided to set up a fund to pay for “loss and damage” from climate-related disasters in developing countries. In addition, it is important that China and the United States, two of the highest carbon emitters, decide to engage in climate diplomacy at COP27. In addition, COP28 will be held in the United Arab Emirates, another CICA member country. From this perspective, it is a fact that environmental topics are becoming more and more important in Asia.
Kazakh President Kasim-Jomart Tokayev proposed to hold a high-level meeting in Astana in 2024 to identify the environmental challenges faced by CICA members. This is one of the important outcomes of the sixth CICA summit. Thanks to this meeting, the CICA region and the world will benefit from the possible establishment of the CICA Environmental Cooperation Council.
Indeed, it is in the interest of CICA member states to host a high-level environmental conference in 2024, where CICA countries can share best practices and potentially ensure a sustainable mutual dialogue. Thus, the environmental aspect of CICA is expected to gain ground quickly in other CBMs.
The 2024 High-Level Conference on the Environment is at the forefront of the CICA Kazakhstan Chair’s Priority Initiative. Kazakhstan’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2060 sets an example for other countries in the region. As part of the preparations for the meeting, in early 2023, CICA Secretary-General Kairat Saribai met with Kazakhstan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Sulemenova.
The Secretary-General said that CICA member countries are widely introducing green technologies to achieve the ambitious goal of carbon neutrality. In addition, within the scope of preparations for the environmental meeting, which is crucial to CICA member countries, the two sides agreed to arrange a series of expert meetings of CICA member countries to set goals for the meeting. .
There is no doubt that CICA is a growing international organization, and the environmental aspect of CICA is developing its capabilities. According to author Turan, interest in environmental topics is gradually increasing in line with the region’s sustainable development goals, with dialogue and support from CICA member states. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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