In Myanmar, Nature Can Help Communities Face Climate Challenges

Sep 3, 2016 | Ryan Barlett
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The impacts of climate change are becoming an ever starker reality around the world, with 2016 on pace to be the hottest year in human history - topping the previous record set just last year. While the Paris Agreement represents significant progress toward addressing this global challenge, international leaders need to further accelerate emissions reductions to keep global temperature rise “well below 2°C above-pre-industrial levels and aiming for 1.5 degrees Celsius,” as called for in the landmark agreement.

Building resilience to these increasing extremes and many more unavoidable effects of warming is imperative. It is especially important in developing countries like Myanmar, where millions of subsistence farmers with limited access to services and poor infrastructure are disproportionately vulnerable. By some metrics, Myanmar is the second most vulnerable country to extreme hazards like floods and extreme storms. As we are increasingly seeing around the world, one of the best ways to help communities adapt to such changes is by working with nature to increase resilience, from providing coastal defenses against storms to reducing flood risk for millions of people downstream.