Global Climate Change Program: Asia and the Near East
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| USAID is working in partnership with fishery production and marketing groups
in Thailand to assess livelihood strategies for adaptation to climate change. |
Addressing the causes and effects of climate
change has been a key focus of USAID’s
development assistance for over a decade.
USAID has funded environmental programs that
have reduced greenhouse gas emissions while
promoting energy efficiency, forest protection,
biodiversity conservation, and other development
goals. This “multiple benefits” approach to climate
change helps developing and transition countries
achieve economic development without sacrificing
environmental protection. To help countries address
domestic and international climate change priorities,
USAID’s Global Climate Change Program is
active in more than 40 countries and, since 2001,
has dedicated over a billion U.S. dollars to promote:
Energy demand in the Asia and Near East (ANE)
region is rising steadily, a cause for concern due to
the region’s high pollution rates and reliance on
imported fossil fuels. Nearly 80 percent of the world's
endangered species and two-thirds of the world's coral
reefs are found in ANE countries, making it one of the
world’s most biodiverse regions on earth. Demands on
natural resources, including water, and environmental
systems are intensifying due to population growth,
poverty, governance issues, and corruption.
USAID’s Global Climate Change Program is working
with key countries to promote clean energy, reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation, and
increase the resilience of vulnerable populations to
climatic changes. The Program works bilaterally in
countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India,
Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines; and through
two regional programs,the South Asia Regional
Initiative for Energy (SARI/Energy) and the Regional
Development Mission/Asia (RDM/A).
Clean Energy Technology
New technologies and practices offer the prospect for
continued economic growth with reduced greenhouse
gas emissions. Recognizing that increased productivity
and efficiency are critical to economic growth, USAID
supports the commercialization, dissemination, and
widespread adoption of environmentally sound
technologies. USAID will play an important role in
implementing the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean
Development and Climate(1) to create new investment
opportunities, build local capacity, and remove barriers
to the utilization of cleaner, more efficient technologies.
Attracting private investment is essential to popularizing
such technologies.
In India, USAID partnered with the West Bengal
Renewable Energy Development Agency to
co-fund the first demonstration project of two 30 kW
state-of-the-art micro-turbines to operate
on bio-gas. This is the first-of-its-kind project in India
in which bio-gas (methane) from a dairy is used in
micro-turbines to generate electricity. This project
will help stimulate the market for micro-turbines
as part of the rural distributed generation systems,
increase energy access and reduce greenhouse
gas emissions.
Sustainable Land Use and Forestry
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| To support the productive development of bare forest lands, local government units in the
Philippines invest in the establishment of nurseries for high value fruit and forest trees. |
Promoting biodiversity conservation, improved
forest management, and sustainable agriculture,
USAID programs help mitigate climate change by
absorbing and storing carbon dioxide from the
atmosphere. They also help reduce the vulnerability
of ecosystems to climate change. Reduced-impact
logging of forests minimizes loss of vegetative
cover, for instance, which helps stabilize the soil
and control erosion during rain and wind storms.
Reduced tillage and contour planting by farmers
increases soil organic carbon and therefore
enhances soil fertility, which helps increase food
security in developing countries. In the Philippines,
the Environmental Governance (EcoGov) project is
assisting local government units, in close collaboration
with forest stakeholders, to complete and
implement forest land use plans, which include
measures to manage and protect approximately
250,000 hectares of natural forests, expand forest
cover through agroforestry and tree planting, and
promote public and private investments to further
encourage protection and conservation initiatives.
Adaptation to Climate Change
USAID supports activities to help developing
countries lessen their vulnerability and adapt to
climate variability and change. These activities are
intended to build more resilience into economic
sectors that may be affected by climatic stresses,
including agriculture, water, and key livelihood
sectors in coastal areas. In Indonesia, USAID's
Coastal Resources Management Project helps
coastal communities to sustainably manage
fisheries, reefs, and other coastal resources and
has leveraged over $10 million from the Asia
Development Bank.
Participating villages and communities develop
long-term plans to protect resources, such as
ensuring that their coastline is protected from
floods and storm damage by healthy stands of
mangroves. USAID is also promoting adaptation
through partnerships with the World Conservation
Union, START (SysTem for Analysis, Research and
Training), and the Mekong River Commission to
assess livelihood strategies for adaptation to
climate change in NortheastThailand.
Climate Science for Decision Making
USAID is also involved in U.S. and international
climate change research to ensure that science
produces information needed for global development
challenges and that scientific findings guide
development planning. Informed policy decisions
are essential to sustainable natural resource management
and economic development, key priorities of
USAID. For example, USAID supports long-term
research partnerships between U.S. universities,
developing country research institutions, U.S. agribusiness,
and private voluntary organizations through
Collaborative Research Support Programs (CRSPs).
CRSPs research issues of agricultural productivity and
sustainability, food quality, and natural resource management
that benefit both developing countries and the
U.S. In South Asia, the Soil Management CRSP supports
research on water conservation practices for the
rice-wheat system.
Download the
Global Climate Change Program: Asia and the Near East Brochure, April 2007 (PDF 146K)
Footnote
(1)The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate is an innovative model
for public private collaboration aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of clean energy
technologies. The U.S.is a founding partner. See:
http://www.asiapacificpartnership.org/
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