Growing Together: Economic Integration for an Inclusive and - escap

CHAPTER FIVE
123
Economic cooperation for addressing shared vulnerabilities and risks
• Strengthening specialized regional
centres, including those for training,
research and capacity-building;
• Promoting social and economic analyses
on disaster risk reduction in the region
• Producing regional studies, baseline
assessments and periodic reviews;
• Sharing disaster data and statistics in the
region
• Using satellite technology for disaster
risk reduction;
• Promoting technical cooperation and
developing standards;
• Facilitating the cooperation of various
research and policy communities and
creating synergies between technical,
practical, and political counterparts.
Pressures on natural resources and
sustainability
Rapid economic growth in Asia and the
Pacific has placed increasing pressure on
natural resources. With limited endowments
of natural resources, the region is particularly
vulnerable to disruptions associated with
FIGURE TITLE
V.2. Primary energy use in Asia and the Pacific and the rest of the world, 1971-2008
Exa Joules
300
250
200
150
100
50
Source: ESCAP.
Rest of the world
volatile energy and resource prices, land
use changes and climate change, which are
becoming increasingly interconnected.
Some of the most significant pressures
arise from the rising demands for energy,
which is projected to increase by about 34
per cent over the next decade. 28 This will
pose particular problems for countries that
rely heavily on imported energy sources,
which are facing rising and volatile prices. 29
Although investment in renewable energy is a
critical response to meeting energy demand,
there is a rising concern about the social
and environmental costs caused by two key
renewable energy sources, hydropower and
biofuels. 30
There will also be pressure on water and
other ecosystem services. The region already
has the world’s lowest per capita availability
of water resources (see figure V.3). If current
trends and management practices persist, by
2025, a significant proportion of the region’s
population will live in water-stressed river
basins. 31
In addition, there are threats to biodiversity.
Asia and the Pacific is a biologically rich region,
Asia and the Pacific
0
1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008