ADB climate change report urges action
21 October 2013
China needs to invest in climate proofing its infrastructure now or face the consequences of losing a landmass four times the size of Hong Kong, warns the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its latest report, Economics of Climate Change in East Asia.
The report estimates that climate proofing of all infrastructure in China, including roads and drainage, would cost up to US$ 44 billion a year between 2010 and 2050.
Rising sea levels place 4,000 km of China’s coastline under threat of submersion, according to the ADB report, which notes that the international port cities of Shanghai and Tianjin and the business centres of Guangdong and Jiangsu are highly vulnerable.
ADB also predicts that the costs of coastal adaptation could reach as high as US$ 3.4 billion a year, allowing US$ 2.8 billion for building sea dikes and US$ 379 million for port upgrades.
