THE high exposure of road infrastructure and air and maritime ports to flooding and sea level rise in Fiji may create a potential risk for the country, states a new report released by the Asian Development Bank.
The report “Climate Change and Earthquake Exposure in Asia and the Pacific” assessed 10 energy and 19 infrastructure assets in Fiji to reach its conclusions.
“The analysis shows that the Pacific sub-region has one of the highest levels of exposure to multiple hazards in the region,” states the report.
“Compared with other regions in Asia and the Pacific, a significant proportion of assets in the Pacific are exposed to sea level rise (39.8 per cent compared with 7.3 per cent in the rest of the region).
“Sea level rise poses a greater threat to the transport sector than to the energy sector, with 5.5 per cent of assets rated red flag. “One reason for this is that some transport infrastructure, such as seaports, is located near the coast.
“In addition, flooding is a major hazard in the Pacific. In the transport sector, 41.2 per cent of evaluated assets are rated red flag. “Each type of flooding considered in this analysis — riverine, rainfall, cyclone, and coastal — could render a transport node unusable during an event, or chronic in the case of sea level rise, which could bring the entire network to a halt if few or no alternative trade and commute routes exist.
“The high exposure of road infrastructure and air and maritime ports to flooding and sea level rise in Fiji and PNG may create a potential risk, as economic growth in these countries depend on maintaining links to major growth centers in the rest of the Asia and Pacific region.”