• Burmese
Saturday, December 2, 2023
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
33 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

Environmental Crises Threaten Burma’s Economy

by William Boot
August 21, 2012
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
Environmental Crises Threaten Burma’s Economy

A girl carries a basin on her head near a cyclone shelter outside Pyar Pon Township in 2010. (Photo: Reuters)

2.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

As Burma attempts to rebuild after the decades of neglect, two studies warn that the country also needs to build defenses against natural disasters like Cyclone Nargis and guard against environmental calamities.

Burma is one of several countries in Southeast Asia at risk of serious environmental crises devastating their economies, says business risk assessor Maplecroft.

RelatedPosts

Myanmar’s Junta Faces an Increase in Resistance Attacks in Yangon, Reports Say

Myanmar’s Junta Faces an Increase in Resistance Attacks in Yangon, Reports Say

December 1, 2023
3.9k
Pro-Junta Party Leader Assassinated in Myanmar

Pro-Junta Party Leader Assassinated in Myanmar

December 1, 2023
3.8k
Clashes, Fires Rage in Loikaw as Resistance Continues Push to Oust Myanmar Junta Forces

Clashes, Fires Rage in Loikaw as Resistance Continues Push to Oust Myanmar Junta Forces

December 1, 2023
1.2k

Ten nations in Asia—including neighbors Bangladesh and India—were identified as having little capacity to withstand natural disasters.

“High exposure to natural hazards in these countries are compounded by a lack of resilience to combat the effects of a disaster should one emerge,” said UK-based Maplecroft.

Burma is one of the countries with “the greatest proportion of their economic output exposed to natural hazards,” according to the study.

“In addition, they also demonstrate poor capability to recover from a significant event exposing investments in those countries to risk of supply chain and market disruptions,” said Maplecroft. “This could lead to sizable business interruption costs, in addition to material damage to essential infrastructure.”

In a separate study, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warns that East Asian countries must act now to avert natural disasters engulfing their mushrooming urban populations by adopting more renewable energy systems and clean-air technologies.

Asia is urbanizing at a faster rate than anywhere else and is now home to almost half the world’s city dwellers. By 2020, it will have 21 of the world’s 37 megacities and over the next 30 years another 1.1 billion people are forecast to be living in metropolises, said the ADB study.

“The region will be confronted with even greater environmental challenges that are already serious, including air pollution, congestion, carbon dioxide emissions, deprivation in water and basic sanitation, plus growing vulnerability to natural disasters,” said the ADB.

Just as Burma seeks to emerge from dilapidated isolation and encourage investment in new infrastructure for electricity generation and transport to catch up with other Southeast Asian countries, the ADB warns that many “sophisticated” cities in the region face a decline in living standards due to air pollution caused by excessive traffic, industry and coal-burning power plants.

“Particularly disturbing are urban carbon dioxide emissions, which if left unchecked under a business-as-usual scenario could reach 10.2 metric tons per capita by 2050, a level which would have disastrous consequences for both Asia and the rest of the world,” said the report.

To avoid a decline in living standards and health as well as avert urban disasters, Asia must follow a green urbanization path to “promote the use of new technologies and renewable energy,” the ADB said.

“Asia must incorporate environmental priorities in city planning. This is underway through building new and satellite cities with renewables as primary energy sources, as piloted in [China],” the ADB said.

The natural disaster risks faced by Asian countries are made worse by their economic fragility, said Maplecroft.

“Some of the highest risk countries have substantial economic outputs, but they are fuelled by large, poor populations, many of which live on marginal land such as flood plains, leaving constituent workforces at heightened risk and without the necessary resources to re-establish themselves in the aftermath of an event.”

Burma’s worst natural disaster, Cyclone Nargis, only occurred in May 2008. It killed at least 138,000 people and caused devastation in the Irrawaddy Delta region which has still not yet fully recovered.

Without infrastructure in place to respond to similar calamities, Burma’s ambition to become a major rice producer and exporter remains in serious jeopardy, the studies’ researchers say.

Maplecroft highlighted that even Burma’s more developed neighbor Thailand suffered serious financial losses and disruption when severe flooding inundated both industrial zones and rice paddy around Bangkok in 2011.

The flooding reduced Thailand’s GDP by nine percent and the economy is still suffering one year on.

“The floods also affected the operations and supply chains of multinational companies, with the automotive industry and ICT sectors hardest hit—manufacturers of hard-drives were only able to meet two-thirds of demand in the final quarter of 2011, pushing prices up by up to 55 percent,” Maplecroft cited as an example of the knock-on effects of natural disasters.

“The test for emerging and developing economies is to build a stronger capacity to meet the challenge of hazard-prone environments,” said Maplecroft’s Helen Hodge. “Failure to do so will risk their ambitious economic growth when the inevitable natural hazards strike.”

The ADB suggests that Burma is ideally positioned to benefit from the mistakes made by more advanced economies in Southeast Asia where “breakneck expansion has been accompanied by a sharp rise in pollution, slums and widening economic and social inequalities which are causing rapid environmental degradation.”

So with the advantage of hindsight, Burma is in a position where it could avoid these problems by directing measured and sustainable development. The bank’s report urges governments to invest in less polluting technology and infrastructure and to focus on energy-efficient urban buildings to reduce electricity demand.

“For urbanization to be not only green but inclusive, policymakers need to promote climate-resilient cities, in order to prevent disasters like the 2011 Bangkok floods,” says the ADB.

The report recommends that governments should promote climate change-resilient cities—including building homes in safe areas, make housing affordable for the poor and investing in drainage infrastructure and weather forecast technology.

The speed of urbanization in Asia—a problem which seems certain to confront Burma as investment flows into Rangoon and Mandalay—shows no sign of slowing. Within the next 20 years another 110 million people will be living in cities across the region at risk of flooding, raising the total in danger to 410 million people.

“Asia has seen unprecedented urban population growth but this has been accompanied by immense stress on the environment,” said the bank’s Chief Economist Changyong Rhee. “The challenge now is to put in place policies which will reverse that trend and facilitate the development of green technology and green urbanization.”

Your Thoughts …
Previous Post

US Wants Burmese Govt to Shut Down Censorship Board

Next Post

Constitutional Tribunal Dispute Heats Up

William Boot

William Boot

Similar Picks:

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

Exodus: Tens of Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Troops Face Last Stand in Kokang

November 28, 2023
77.3k
Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

Another Entire Junta Battalion Raises the White Flag in Myanmar’s Northern Shan State

November 29, 2023
69.5k
Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses

Drone Attack at Myanmar-China Border Gate Causes Over $14m in Losses

November 27, 2023
29.5k
Brotherhood Alliance Marching Towards Capital of Myanmar’s Kokang Region

Brotherhood Alliance Marching Towards Capital of Myanmar’s Kokang Region

November 25, 2023
26.8k
General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

General Close to Myanmar Junta Boss Placed Under House Arrest, Interrogated for Corruption

September 14, 2023
23.4k
Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta

Three Rebel Army Chiefs Predict Rapid Fall of Myanmar Junta

August 18, 2023
21.7k
Load More
Next Post
Constitutional Tribunal Dispute Heats Up

Constitutional Tribunal Dispute Heats Up

Lashio Hit by Worst Floods in Half a Century

Lashio Hit by Worst Floods in Half a Century

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

Myanmar’s Junta And Its Military Face Annihilation, Arakan Army Says

1 week ago
18.9k
Illusion of Myanmar Military’s Indispensability Has Been Shattered

Illusion of Myanmar Military’s Indispensability Has Been Shattered

4 days ago
5.3k

Most Read

  • Myanmar’s Civilian Government Takes Control of Seized Funds

    Myanmar’s Civilian Government Takes Control of Seized Funds

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar IDPs Stranded by Junta Troops in Northern Shan State Face a Long Walk Home

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Junta Bombardments in Myanmar’s Rakhine State Spark Mass Exodus

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar’s Junta Faces an Increase in Resistance Attacks in Yangon, Reports Say

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Pro-Junta Party Leader Assassinated in Myanmar

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Features
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.