wild places | wild happenings | wild news
make a difference for our wild places

home | links | search the site
  all articles latest | past | articles by topics | search wildnews
wild news on wildsingapore
  PlanetArk 24 Nov 06
Climate Change to Hit South China Economic Engine

HONG KONG - China's Pearl River Delta, a giant manufacturing hub which helped earn the country the nickname "the workshop of the world", will be hard hit by climate change in the coming years, and leaders need to do more to plan for it, a Hong Kong think tank said on Thursday.

As polar ice caps melt, the sea level along the coast of Guangdong province is forecast to rise at least 30 cm (12 inches) in the coming 25 years, inundating parts of the low lying delta, Civic Exchange said in a report.

Coastal and river defences in the region will be inadequate, roads and railways will be damaged by higher temperatures and flooding, and fresh water supplies -- already stretched -- will come under threat, it said.

The implications are "potentially enormous", said co-author Alexandra Tracy.

The Pearl River Delta, adjacent to Hong Kong, is home to tens of thousands of factories producing everything from textiles to cars, and is a key link in supply chains that extend around the world.

"Any large problem for the Pearl River Delta has much wider implications," Tracy told a news conference. Insurance costs and taxes are likely to rise and there will be interruptions to power supply and transport as the effects of global warming are felt, the report said.

"Climate change risk has not been adequately addressed by the authorities or businesses in Hong Kong, Macau and the PRD," said Christine Loh, a former Hong Kong lawmaker and CEO of Civic Exchange.

"The region urgently needs more in-depth research on how we can adapt to the unavoidable aspects of climate change, as well as how we can reduce our greenhouse gas emissions," she said.
links
Related articles on Global issues: Climate change
about the site | email ria
  News articles are reproduced for non-profit educational purposes.
 

website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com