Aung Tun Oo (ELP 2022) | Technical Advisor/Specialist, Radanar Ayar Rural Development Association, Myanmar
Climate Change in Myanmar
On 3 May 2008, the most powerful cyclone Nargis came across Myanmar, killing about 140,000 people, displacing several thousand people, and destroying an estimated 12.9 billion USD worth of farmlands and household properties. Myanmar is one of the most climate hazardous countries in the Southeast Asia region and ranked 2nd in the list of top ten climate risk index countries in the world (Global Climate Risk Index 2021). Historical climate data has indicated that Myanmar is experiencing a rise in temperature and erratic precipitation. Along the coastline areas, the rise of sea level and saltwater intrusion are increasingly occurring and threatening the communities that rely on the agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture sectors. The temperature in the central dry zone has experienced a significant rise, with a record high of 47.50C in Chauk in 2020. Erratic and heavy rainfall leads to sudden floods in almost every region/state of Myanmar and usually destroys millions of farms across Myanmar. As an agricultural-based country, where nearly one-third of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about 65% of employment forces were generated by the agriculture sector alone, the increasing impacts of climate change extremes have put serious challenges on the livelihood of poor and marginalized farmers, food and nutrition security, and poverty alleviation processes in Myanmar.
Current crises pour additional challenge
Previously, Myanmar was under several long decades of military rule. In 2010, Myanmar practiced a democratically elected government following the previous ruling military-drafted 2008s constitution. The elected government had promised to tackle the climate crisis in Myanmar. In 2015, the National League for Democracy (NLD) party led by Daw Aung Sann Suu Kyi won the 2015 election by a landslide. The democratically elected government has swiftly tackled the climate crisis goals by establishing several working committees, numerous initiatives, and leadership for the formation of the 2019 Myanmar Climate Change Policies (MCCP), Strategies (MCCS), and action plans. Most noticeably, the NLD led government has introduced the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan (MSDP) with short- and long-term missions and visions for sustainable business development and prosperous Myanmar. All these climate change action plans and strategies seemed to be implementable and achievable in Myanmar, the momentum looking very promising over a 2nd landslide winning of the NLD party in the 2020s election. However, not any longer. On 1 Feb 2021, the military staged a coup and seized power from a democratically elected government with an accusation of election fraud. This was widely known as the military coup d ‘etat of Myanmar with a brutal crackdown of anti-regime protesters and intense violation of human rights. The coup has condemned the country's rich biodiversity and ecosystems and has undermined the climate actions. Along with the COVID-19 travel restrictions and ongoing civil conflicts, the economy has slumped with more state-sanctioned overexploitation of natural resources. Thus, the impacts on the environment and climate change have been worsening.
What could be done before things get WORSE?
Myanmar is on the brink of experiencing severe impacts of climate change and disasters. The agriculture sectors have been experiencing severe impacts of climate change and will be exposed to the projected impacts of natural disasters and climate change extremes. The ongoing clashes between Myanmar’s military and the local resistance forces linger with severe uncertainty along with the rapid rise of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), food insecurity, unemployment, and poverty. Due to the funding cut on development and environmental conservation projects and programs, more environmental degradation and climate change impacts are seemingly underway. Lower crop yields, declining food availability for people, and increasing uncertainty for employment for most young people may result in Myanmar being on the knife edge of a climate crisis. This can undoubtedly worsen soon. Myanmar’s people should be well-prepared to face the climate crisis amid the political crises. Both public and private sectors should come forth together to act on the planned climate actions with equitable actions, build the climate resilience of the people through empowering the adaptive capacity of all stakeholders, and carry out the necessary climate change adaptation actions to reduce the negative impacts of climate change.
Within the next decades, Myanmar’s economy will be recorded slow and the planned climate actions will just be delayed as the current civil unrest seems to be stormy and turbulent. If an extreme disaster like Nargis Cyclone hits Myanmar again, the country will be in chaos with urgent humanitarian crises. Since the rural community and farmers are weak in terms of adaptive capacity, the country will experience extreme vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Myanmar should find a way to stop the conflicts through more constructive dialogues and ceasefire agreements, and tackle the climate crisis swiftly. In the absence of political will, the private sectors including Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), and local Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) should work harmoniously to prepare for future climate events. At once, we all need unity and solidarity actions to tackle the climate crisis in Myanmar. Otherwise, the generations of Myanmar will bear the brunt of the consequences.
(This is just a reflection or thought of the author and thus does neither represent the view of the organization to which the author belongs nor pursue any personal opinion on politics or people in Myanmar)