More flooding, droughts and forest fires, decrease in agricultural and aq•cultural productivity, displacement of tens of millions of coastal dwellers by sea level rise and intense tropical cyclones, and the degradation of mangroves and coral reef ecosystems are some of the likely consequences of climate change in Asia, according to a press release issued by UN Information Centre. The centre said these projections are contained in the second volume of a major climate change report produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and released recently in Geneva.

140 government delegates from more than 100 countries accepted the new IPCC report "Climate Change 2001: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability" and approved its Summary for Policymakers.

The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) which established the IPCC along with the World Meteorological Organization, said the report produced by more than 400 scientific experts - provided further evidence of the scale and seriousness of the global warming problem and need to act quickly and decisively.

"We must re-start the stalled climate change negotiations as a first step towards the deep cuts in emissions from factories, power stations, cars and homes, needed to curb damaging climate change", said Klaus Topfer, Executive Director of UNEP. "And we also need to help vulnerable people to adapt to the impacts and that action needs to be taken now."

For the Asia region, the Summary for Policymakers states that:-

• Extreme events have increased in temperate and tropical Asia, including floods, droughts, forest fires and tropical cyclones.

• Decreases in agricultural productivity and aquaculture due to thermal and water stress, sea-level rise, floods and droughts, and tropical cyclones would diminish food security in many countries of arid, tropical, and temperate Asia.

• Runoff and water availability may decrease in arid and semi-arid Asia, but increase in northern Asia.

• Human health would be threatened by possible increased exposure to vector-brone infectious diseases and heat stress in parts of Asia.

• Sea-level rise and an increase in the intensity of tropical cyclones would displace tens of millions of people in low-lying coastal areas of temperate and tropical Asia; increased intensity of rainfall would increase flood risks in temperate and tropical Asia.

• Climate change would increase energy demand, decrease tourist attraction and influence transportation in some regions of Asia.

• Climate change would exacerbate threats to biodiversity due to land use and land cover change and population pressure in Asia. Sea-level rise would put ecological security at risk including mangroves and coral reefs.

• Poleward movement of the southern boundary of the permafrost zones of Asia would result in a change of thermokarst and thermal erosion with negative impacts on social infrastructure and industries.

• Adaptive capacity of human systems is low and vulnerability is high in the developing countries of Asia; the developed countries of Asia are more able to adapt and less vulnerable.

Last year, prior to the failed climate change convention meeting at The Hauge in November, UNEP and the Asian Development Bank facilitated a series of national workshops throughout Asia to build understanding of the Kyoto Protocols Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The CDM is of special interest to developing counties as it would provide for investments in projects for sustainable development, including clean energy projects. However, several important aspects of the mechanism are yet to be negotiated.

Mr. Topfer urged all sectors of society including governments, aid agencies, non-governmental agencies and the United Nations family of agencies to urgently work together to help vulnerable people and countries prepare for the impacts of climate change.

"There are no winners, only losers in the climate change scenario. Now is time to act collectively and decisively", he said.

The first volume of the IPCC's report, released last month in Shanghai, confirmed the increasingly strong evidence for humanity's influence on the global climate. It also projected that the globally averaged temperate of the air above the Earth's surface would rise by 1.4 to 4.8 degrees Celsius over the next 100 years.