Economics of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in South Asia: Options and Costs

Abstract

What can governments do to influence the development of clean energy technologies and move toward low-carbon growth in the South Asian states of Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka? South Asia is considered vulnerable to the impacts and consequences of climate change, including sea level rise, melting Himalayan glaciers, and increased frequency of typhoons. Notwithstanding these challenges, sustained and rapid economic growth is necessary for the region to achieve significant poverty reduction, uplift the economic well-being of its people, and increase its resilience to environmental shocks and natural disasters, including those associated with climate change. Against a backdrop, continuing increase in the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are responsible for global climate change, energy consumption and use of fossil fuels in South Asia DMCs are growing rapidly.