An extreme heat wave has swept across South and Southeast Asia, exacerbated by an El Nino weather pattern that has created drier weather conditions and pushed temperatures to dangerous highs. In addition to the immediate public health threat, schools were closed in many countries and demand for water and electricity strained utilities.
The Philippines closed all public schools from April 29–30, and half the country’s provinces are struggling with drought, leaving experts concerned about this year’s annual harvest. In Thailand, authorities braced for the “heat index” — a measure taking humidity into account — to hit 52 C. In Bangladesh, temperatures surged into the low 40s as schools shuttered and waited for the heat to subside.
The UN Development Programme describes climate change as a “profound existential threat for Asia and the Pacific,” possibly saddling “future generations with the costs of unsustainable economic development.”
Similarly, UNICEF forecast in a recent report that East Asia and the Pacific would experience a hotter-than-usual summer, endangering the health of an estimated 243 million children. The report described the region’s urban centres as “heat traps,” due to their high density of heat-absorbing buildings, roads, and vehicles.
Reviewing Canada’s commitments
Building a sustainable and green future is one of the five objectives of Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (IPS), including sharing expertise in clean technology, oceans management, energy transition, and climate finance with the region.
A major node of engagement will be FinDev Canada, the government’s development finance institution. According to the IPS’s implementation update in February, FinDev Canada still hasn’t opened an office in the region, but when it does, it will support sustainable transportation, renewable energy, and water and digital infrastructure. Meanwhile, Canadian firms, including large pension funds, continue to be significant investors in the region’s cleantech projects.
Ottawa’s attention, however, has been turned toward another aspect of its sustainability commitment. From April 23–29, Ottawa hosted the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution. After “sharp disagreements” over “whether to put global limits on plastic production,” there was some progress toward a global treaty.
The Ottawa meeting was the committee’s fourth — the fifth and final meeting will be held in South Korea from November 25 to December 1, 2024. At that meeting, participants hope to finalize an “internationally legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment.”
