However, it must still grapple with issues such as food security: Report
Grace Chua, Straits Times 13 Nov 09;
SINGAPORE is less vulnerable to the impact of climate change than other major Asian cities, but this is mainly due to its having enough resources to adapt.
The analysis is part of a new WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) report released this week, which examines 11 Asian cities based on existing data.
Singapore remains susceptible to higher temperatures, fluctuating rainfall, higher sea levels and food security issues as it relies on neighbouring countries for food, the report said.
It noted that, for Singapore, the sea level is predicted to rise by 60cm by the end of the century, making the eroded shoreline more vulnerable to storm surges and flooding.
Previously, it was reported that a 1m rise in sea level could lead to coastal flooding and erosion.
Singapore fared well for its ability to adapt, thanks to a high gross domestic product (GDP) and access to new technologies, but the report added: 'Adaptation should not replace mitigation, but instead work in tandem with it.'
The report, Mega-Stress For Mega-Cities, graded cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City on factors such as their exposure to storms, a rise in sea level and drought; the population and assets at risk from climate change; and the cities' ability to adapt.
The large and relatively poor city of Dhaka in Bangladesh is rated the most vulnerable - its 13 million residents are at high risk from floods and storm surges.
Closer to home, in Phnom Penh - which holds 14 per cent of Cambodia's 14 million population and contributes 28 per cent of its GDP - heavy rainfall threatens rice crops and tourism.
The WWF hopes the report, timed to coincide with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting here this week, will galvanise governments into cooperating on adaptation measures, said WWF Singapore managing director Amy Ho.
'It's not just the proportion of global emissions that one country contributes. Every country, big or small, has to do its part,' she said.
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies research associate Catherine Wong said the study showed the disparity in how well Asia's cities can adapt to climate change.
'The more developed Asian economies should help their least developed counterparts because it is in their own collective interest to do so,' said Ms Wong.
'Climate change is more than an environmental phenomenon. It comes with economic, social and political externalities that can develop into a contagion of instabilities across the region.'
She questioned, however, the absence of Laos' capital Vientiane from the list, as its adaptive capacity is among the lowest in Asia.
GRACE CHUA
Grading climate-change vulnerability
Straits Times 13 Nov 09;
THE WWF report, Mega-Stress For Mega-Cities, outlines the following threats to 11 Asian cities, in three categories:
Environmental exposure: Many of the cities in the report, such as Singapore, Dhaka, Manila, Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City, are in coastal areas and river deltas and face these environmental threats.
# Storm threat: Climate change is expected to increase the intensity of tropical cyclones, which will also bring storm surges and raise offshore water levels.
For example, Manila in the Philippines already suffers from the impact of tropical storms such as the recent Typhoon Morakot. It scored a 10 on this measure.
# Sea-level rise: Rising sea levels will cause saltwater intrusion into freshwater supplies and ruin crops.
Saltwater intrusion threatens, for instance, the rice crops of Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, which is near the Mekong Delta.
# Flooding/drought: These extreme weather events are set to increase with climate change.
Dhaka in Bangladesh lies in a large river delta and is already prone to floods. It scores a 10 on this measure.
Socio-economic sensitivity:
# Population: The number of people in a city.
# Assets threatened: The size of a city's contribution to the national economy. Since Singapore contributes to 100 per cent of the country's economy, it scores a 10 on the scale.
Inverse adaptive capacity: How much money and access to technology a city has.
This scale is inverted, so that a score of 1 means a country has a high ability to adapt, and a score of 10 means it will have great difficulty protecting itself.
Grim climate outlook for Asia: WWF
Esther Ng, TODAY Channel NewsAsia 13 Nov 09;
SINGAPORE: Erosion of Singapore's coast lines, massive landslides in Kuala Lumpur caused by flash floods, and more tropical cyclones to hit Hong Kong – these are some predictions by experts from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
But, these are the same cities least at risk from climate change.
The WWF studied 11 Asian cities and found Dhaka to be the most vulnerable to climate threats, followed by Jakarta, Manila, Kolkata and Phnom Penh.
Coastal erosion is already impacting Singapore, said the non-government organisation, and will "likely worsen with sea-level rise and increased storms". Citing a recent study, the WWF estimated the annual cost of protecting the coast to be between US$300,000 ($416,500) and US$5.7 million by 2050, and between US$900,000 and US$16.8 million by 2100.
'We have time to react'
Some experts have predicted sea levels could rise 60cm by the end of this century.
There are "counter measures" Singapore could look into, said Dr Pavel Tkalich, who heads the Physical Oceanography Research Laboratory at the National University of Singapore. "We have time to react," he said.
These include raising the level of reclaimed land, building dams and installing pumps to expel excess water into the sea.
The Marina Barrage, which cost $230 million, already does this. It acts as a tidal barrier to flash floods in low-lying areas and has pumps and gates to discharge water into the sea.
The Public Utilities Board and the National Environment Agency could not respond by press time on whether the Barrage would be adequate in dealing with further sea-level rises.
But 60cm is at the "upper limit" of climate change predictions, said Dr Tkalich. The range between which sea levels could rise is 20cm to 60cm.
The level itself is not a problem – it will become "worrying if you have tsunami or a storm surge on top of it".
Another threat is dengue. The WWF said that "dengue seems to be spreading to areas of Singapore where it previously was not found" – a sign that the climate is changing.
It ranked Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Hong four vulnerability points out of 10 for dengue. Dhaka received a nine.
- TODAY/so
