The NESA Center October–December 2022 Update focuses on Near East South Asia Region trends regarding climate change.

The update also highlights October through December 2022 NESA Center programs & events, faculty & staff engagements, alumni contributions, and upcoming events.

October–December 2022 Climate Change Trends:

• People and governments in the NESA region seem interested in “doing something” to address climate change. In the last several years, extreme weather (i.e., flooding, extreme heat, and drought) has been more frequent and harder to deny. Like other regions and countries, several Middle Eastern countries demand and expect financial and technical help from Europe and the United States.
• The COP 27 Loss and Damage Fund Announcement was met with positive responses from the developing world. Still, many regional organizations and institutions in those countries are skeptical of the efficiency of any fund’s distribution.
• Venice’s newly unveiled retractable seawall to disrupt abnormal high tides is being highlighted throughout the NESA AOR as an indication of the multiplying costs of dealing with sea level rise. The Venice system is meant to only operate temporarily and is overwhelmed at a 30 cm sea level rise. The cost was in the billions (USD). Developing states do not have the resources to build such mechanisms, and in the Eastern Indian Ocean, sea level rise will certainly overwhelm some nation-states. Mitigation and alternative solutions are being pursued, but planning is increasingly looking toward a worst-case scenario.

Read the full NESA Center Update [PDF]

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