Background

In Asia and the Pacific, the effects of climate change becomes obvious, with South Asia being the most vulnerable region (IPCC, 2007). However, South Asia could severely impacted if the world continues on its current fossil-fuel-intensive path (UN, 2020). Climate change might cut 9% of the South Asian GDP per year by the end of the century, and the human and financial toll could be substantially worse if floods, droughts, cyclones, and other extreme weather events taken place in the region frequently. Report highlighted that most of the South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka) collectively may have the chance to lose an average of 1.8% of their annual GDP by 2050, rising to 8.8% by 2100 (ADB, 2014).Moreover, South Asia's economy would only be decreased by 1.3% yearly by 2050 and 2.5% by 2100 if countries across the world act collectively to keep global temperatures below an average of 2° celcius. To mitigate this situation, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and the Maldives are working to adapt to climate change and have developed national adaptation plans in 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2006. However, governments' understanding of the need to plan for and respond to the effects of climate change is not satisfactory and needs to be addressed immediately.

Aims of the special issue

Climate change's impact on regional economies in South Asia becomes a significant concern in determining effective policies to mitigate such an adverse event. Agricultural output and food security, access to drinking water, migration, urban properties and activities, and even regional geopolitical stability are all expected to be impacted in the future, as are geographical and geological conditions. In this connection, we aim to publish scientific research findings on how climate change affects the economy of South Asia and their present adaptation approaches. Furthermore, this special issue aims to collect relevant research findings into the features of stochastic climate change indicators and their most likely impacts on various sectors (agriculture and industry) in South Asia's. Different econometric modeling, the application of advanced technology (GIS, RS, machine learning) on climate change impact assessment will be highly appreciated.

Scope and information for authors

The Research Topic aims to publish articles, reviews, opinions, and case reports related to assessing climate change impacts on regional economics in South Asian countries associated with the following issues, but we welcome other relevant studies as well:

Stochastic climate change indicators: geographical, sea-level rise, flood, drought, geographical, geopolitical and geological conditions;Climate change and its impact on the agriculture and industrial sector;Policies for mitigating climate change impact on urban properties-urban activities;Assessment of climate change consequences at micro-region level;Economics damage due to adverse climatic factors;Climatic risk assessment and mitigation strategies;National/regional food security and climate change;Adaptation/vulnerability/robustness of regional economics against disaster risk and uncertainty;Trans-boundary impacts and international cooperation;GIS, RS, Dynamic data collection system for climate-smart agriculture; Concurrent assessment with machine learning using dynamic data, etc.

Keywords: Climate change; Impact analysis; South Aisan Economy; Climatic factors; Food security; Risk assessment; Diaster risk reduction, Mitgation starategies; Policies; and Decision support systems.

Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts to the Editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science (APJRS) by May 1, 2022 (APJRS). The submission website is as follows: https://www.editorialmanager.com/ajrs/default.aspx.

All manuscripts will be evaluated according to the APJRS standard. Once a manuscript has been accepted after review, it will be rapidly published online with a DOI, which means that earlier submissions may be published online sooner than the printed edition, even if the printed version's publishing schedule has been set.

Please prepare your paper according to the APJRS Author Instructions. Please select the special feature under assessment of climate change impacts on regional economics in South Asia at the "Select Article Type" stage to track submissions.

Special Issue Editor:

Tofael Ahamed, University of Tsukuba, Japan