ADB chief urges Asia to make more efficient use of energy
Afp, Manila
Asia must use energy more efficiently because the actions of the world's most populous continent will have a large bearing on climate change, Asian Development Bank president Haruhiko Kuroda said Tuesday. "Climate change is a reality that we can no longer ignore and one that we have to take immediate action to mitigate and adapt to," Kuroda told delegates at the opening of an international "carbon-neutral" conference at the ADB headquarters in the Philippines. The Japanese banker said that while Asia needs energy to maintain rapid growth and continue cutting poverty, energy production and consumption need to move to a more sustainable path. He noted that in the 30 years to 2003, Asia's energy consumption grew by 230 percent compared with the average worldwide increase of 75 percent. The region includes Japan, the world's number-two economy, as well as the rapidly growing giants China and India. As a result, the share of the region's greenhouse gas emissions has risen from less than one-tenth of global emissions to nearly one quarter, he said.
| 
