For Southeast Asia to resist and overcome local weather shocks, it should flip to digital options.
Such options, in keeping with a brand new Google and Deloitte report revealed final month, will assist communities put together for impending weather-related disasters, strengthen the area in opposition to climate-induced disasters, and scale back financial losses linked to excessive climate occasions.
The APAC chapter of a report by the know-how firm {and professional} companies agency, entitled Digital as a Key Enabler for Local weather Motion: The Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations Perspective, highlights local weather change and digital progress as “interconnected” world challenges.
The report additionally notes that growing APAC nations with fewer sources face better challenges in implementing adaptation tasks, all whereas being disproportionately vulnerable to local weather shocks.
Practically 13 million folks in Southeast Asia had been impacted by pure disasters reminiscent of floods, typhoons, excessive temperatures and wildfires in 2022 alone, with the Asian Catastrophe Discount Middle’s newest Pure Disasters Knowledge E-book highlighting Asia Pacific as essentially the most hazard-prone area globally.
Rating among the many most climate-vulnerable areas worldwide is Southeast Asia, which faces a twin problem: adapting to local weather change largely pushed by emissions from superior economies, and rethinking improvement approaches which might be progressively exacerbating world warming.
Equally, the United Nations Financial and Social Fee for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the regional arm of the United Nations for the Asia Pacific area, highlights digital transformation as pivotal in attaining each, all whereas future-proofing cities and economies.
“[In the long run], nations that lag when it comes to digital improvement may even face a scarcity of catastrophe prevention and preparedness, hindering their socioeconomic improvement,” Cristina Bernal Aparicio, co-author of UNESCAP’s Digital applied sciences for local weather change adaptation report, advised Eco-Enterprise.
“Embracing digital applied sciences shouldn’t be merely a technological alternative however a important determinant to strengthen resilience, scale back inequalities, and advance sustainable improvement within the face of evolving world challenges,” continued Bernal, who can also be a guide in local weather change adaptation communications on the United Nations Framework Conference on Local weather Change (UNFCCC), which is the foundational worldwide treaty signed in 1992 offering a framework for world motion on local weather change.
Climate and climate-related catastrophes are projected to shave off 11 per cent from the gross home product (GDP) of Southeast Asian economies by the tip of the century, in keeping with a report by the Asian Improvement Financial institution, with Southeast Asian markets standing to lose at the very least 37 per cent of their GDP to unmitigated local weather change by 2048.
In essentially the most extreme situation, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand might lose financial output totalling greater than seven instances their 2019 GDP by 2050 to climate-induced shocks.
Higher options
Google’s nation managing director in Singapore Ben King highlights that digital options can present growing cities with reasonably priced entry to emissions information and instruments for sustainable city planning. Picture: Google Singapore
Investing in revolutionary early warning programs within the type of digital options is one efficient strategy to offset financial dangers and save lives.
“The know-how we have to handle local weather challenges already exists, however they have to be cascaded to much less technologically mature communities to make sure an equitable future for all,” highlights Ben King, Google’s nation managing director in Singapore.
As a big tech firm, King added that the organisation recognises its accountability in growing potential options to mitigate local weather shocks, and in partnerships to allow such know-how to scale.
Banking on the transformative potential of synthetic intelligence (AI) in digital options, Google has launched a number of initiatives to drive local weather motion.
We firmly imagine that the transformative energy of [technology] must be harnessed for the advantage of all. By working collectively, with good insurance policies and a big-picture mindset, we will create a future that’s each digital and sustainable.
Ben King, nation managing director, Google Singapore
One such resolution is Flood Hub, which utilises information and AI to offer real-time alerts and forecasts on flood info as much as per week upfront, permitting native governments to offer important time for evacuation and catastrophe preparation.
“The breakthroughs we’re making in AI have enabled us to scale options that may assist susceptible communities in areas to sort out excessive climate occasions,” King added.
Such options are proving particularly useful in Southeast Asia, with one other report revealed by Nature noting greater than 1 / 4 of the area’s inhabitants is uncovered to floods.
“For instance, we’ve developed hyper-local flood forecasting fashions with AI to forecast the place riverine floods will happen, which is at present out there in flood-prone locations like India, Thailand and Vietnam,” mentioned King.
Flood Hub is a part of Google’s disaster response work to offer folks entry to trusted info and sources in important moments. Picture: Google
The corporate additionally strives to cut back emissions in cities by its resolution Challenge Inexperienced Mild, which makes use of AI and information from Google Maps to analyse visitors patterns and supply suggestions to metropolis visitors engineers on adjusting visitors mild timing.
Challenge Inexperienced Mild is now used throughout 70 intersections in 12 cities together with Manchester, Rio de Janeiro and Jakarta. Preliminary information from the 12 cities the place the system has been deployed since 2023 signifies a possible 30 per cent discount in automobile stops and a ten per cent lower in emissions at intersections.
“By optimising not only one intersection, however coordinating throughout a number of adjoining intersections to create waves of inexperienced lights, cities can enhance visitors stream and additional scale back stop-and-go emissions,” defined King.
Digital options may also present cities – particularly growing cities – with reasonably priced entry to emissions information, permitting them to measure and handle their carbon emissions, King provides.
Google’s Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE), for instance, can estimate annual automobile journeys, be it by automobile, bus, bike, or distance travelled, after which multiply this information to assist people calculate emissions.
To trace constructing emissions, such instruments can convert constructing carbon footprint information into vitality use estimates utilizing information on constructing vitality efficiency, after which calculate these emissions utilizing emissions components, in keeping with Google.
Such instruments can basically assist cities set up emissions baselines, establish emissions sources, and affect climate-related regulation, famous King. “With EIE, we hope to empower policymakers and governments world wide to know their environmental influence and develop efficient local weather motion plans,” he mentioned.
The complete report, which was launched on 9 September, explored how digital applied sciences will be leveraged to deal with local weather challenges by way of three important local weather motion pillars: mitigation, adaptation and resilience, and basis.
Low-carbon future
Whereas efficient, digital applied sciences should be scaled to carry tangible leads to Southeast Asia, King famous.
“If delivered to scale, digital applied sciences may scale back emissions by 20 per cent by 2050 within the three highest-emitting sectors: vitality, supplies, and mobility.”
Past digital options, Bernal highlights the significance of climate-focused insurance policies and elevated funding, which can assist Southeast Asia to fund innovation, decarbonise, and shore up its resilience to local weather change.
“In APAC nations, supporting digitalisation and innovation will likely be essential to efficient local weather motion and adaptation,” she mentioned. “The event insurance policies that mainstream each local weather adaptation and using digital applied sciences not solely strengthen governments’ dedication to adapting to local weather change but additionally ensures that these tasks are prioritised to obtain funding and human capital for profitable implementation.”
Knowledge, nonetheless, suggests that rather more experience is required for additional developments.
For instance, Singapore wants a 55 per cent increase in its digital workforce by 2025, whereas Indonesia requires a further 600,000 digital abilities yearly as much as 2030.
To maximise the influence of digital transformation on Southeast Asia’s local weather resilience, areas reminiscent of digital abilities, expertise, and maturity should be improved upon alongside strategic digital measures in local weather monitoring, infrastructure, and innovation, highlights the APAC chapter of the report by Google and Deloitte.
On this report, Google additionally presents its Digital Sprinters Framework as a structured blueprint for rising nations to speed up their digital transformation.
The shift will entail funding by governments and the personal sector within the 4 major classes of infrastructure, folks, technological innovation, and public insurance policies. Every class addresses particular elements of coverage that may facilitate sustainable and inclusive financial development whereas harnessing the ability of digital transformation.
“We firmly imagine that the transformative energy of [technology] must be harnessed for the advantage of all and recognise that unlocking the true potential of this know-how lies in guaranteeing its equitable and widespread accessibility,” King concluded.
“By working collectively, with good insurance policies and a big-picture mindset, we will create a future that’s each digital and sustainable.”
