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EEPSEA Research on Climate Change
Research Project | Case Studies
The latest report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that climate change is expected to result in large number of (mostly negative) effects including increasing average temperatures, rising sea levels, increased intensity of storms, more frequent flooding and consequently, rapid spread of diseases and loss of biodiversity. It is expected that countries of South East Asia will be subject to all these effects, although their significance will vary from country to country according to their specific circumstances, but those living in coastal communities are most vulnerable.
A big part of Vietnam, particularly in the Mekong Delta and Red Delta, and parts of Bangkok, Thailand are already living in all-year round flooded situations. For many years, the government of Vietnam has already been assisting these communities through its “Living with the Flood” policy. The experiences by the local government in implementing this policy and how it has helped the communities in adapting to rising flood waters could provide some insights that could benefit other communities who are likely to be harmed by rising sea level. While the flooding in Bangkok is due mainly to coastal erosion, the net effect is the same as that of sea level rise—communities are permanently submerged to flooding water. In this condition, people have learned to cope and adjust their livelihood and living style. There could be lessons to learn from these experiences as well, particularly on the adaptation strategies that people may take to reduce negative effects of this new environment.
EEPSEA supports several case studies to look into the coping and adaptation strategies of local households & villages and local authorities to flooding situations and other extreme climate events—to gain insights on how people might behave when the projected sea level rise from climate change sets it. It will also attempt to cover experiences on early warning systems to deal with storm events. Some of the studies will assess the local capacity and readiness as well as the effectiveness of these adaptation and coping strategies.
In addition, EEPSEA has also supported a number of research projects, submitted through the regional competition that takes place twice a year. In May of 2006, it made a call for proposals on economics of adaptation to climate change and has supported four research projects from the submissions to that call.