Bhutan National Human Development Report 2011
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BHUTAN NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011 Sustaining Progress: Rising to the Climate Challenge Copyright © Gross National Happiness Commission 2011 All right reserved Royal Government of Bhutan ISBN : 978 - 99936 - 55 - 00 - 8 BHUTAN NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011 Sustaining Progress: Rising to the Climate Challenge Contents Contents Foreword iii Acknowledgements v Acronyms vii Executive summary 1 1 Climate Change and Human Development in Bhutan 11 1.1 Climate Change in the rooftop of the world 12 1.2 Human Development and Gross National Happiness in Bhutan 15 1.3 A Challenge of Responsibility 19 1.4 Conclusion 21 2 Human Development Conditions 25 2.1 The Human Development Backdrop 25 2.2 Income and Multidimensional Poverty 31 2.3 Millennium Development Goals 33 2.4 Conclusion 38 3 Human Costs of Climate Crisis 41 3.1 Emerging Risks 41 3.2 Mapping Risks and Vulnerabilities 47 3.3 Conclusion 51 4 Adaptation and Mitigation in Bhutan 55 4.1 Adaptation Strategies 56 4.2 The Role of Ecosystems in Climate Adaptation 61 4.3 Social Protection Policy—links to Climate Adaptation 63 4.4 Living within a Carbon-neutral Budget 68 4.5 Accessing Adaptation Financing 72 4.6 Conclusion 75 5 Recommendations 79 Bibliography 84 Statistical Annex 91 Box 1.1 Bhutan and Human Development Reports 12 Box 1.2 What is global climate change? 13 Box 3.1 Shifting crops and changing seasons: farmers’ perceptions 50 Box 4.1 Cities and adaptation interventions 59 Box 4.2 Insurance lessons 65 Figure 1.1 Projected temperature increases 13 Figure 1.2 Projected rainfall changes 14 Figure 1.3 Bhutan’s deglaciation leading to expanding glacial lakes 15 Figure 1.4 Greenhouse gas emissions by source and sinks 19 i BHUTAN NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011 Sustaining Progress: Contents Rising to the Climate Challenge Figure 1.5 Bhutan’s carbon footprint in regional context 20 Figure 2.1 Human development advances in Bhutan 26 Figure 2.2 Mostly even human development across dzongkhags 26 Figure 2.3 Income—not a perfect determinant for human development 27 Figure 2.4 Strong primary enrolment progress fails to translate into sustained higher level enrolment gains 28 Figure 2.5 Mean years of schooling among neighbouring countries 28 Figure 2.6 Large gaps remain between men and women’s abilities to read 29 Figure 2.7 Declining repetition and dropout rates 29 Figure 2.8 Strong—but slowing—declines in child mortality 30 Figure 2.9 Significant life expectancy increase among neighbouring countries 30 Figure 2.10 Numbers of doctors lag behind other health workers 31 Figure 2.11 Sharp increase in HIV cases in recent years 31 Figure 2.12 Significant income advances in recent decades 31 Figure 2.13 Large rural-urban income poverty gap 32 Figure 2.14 Cooking fuel, primary schooling, sanitation: largest deprivations in Bhutan 32 Figure 2.15 Multidimensional poverty across Bhutan’s dzongkhags 33 Figure 2.16 Overall Increasing Youth unemployment 34 Figure 3.1 Variations in crop yield 42 Figure 3.2 Perceptions of household food security differs widely 42 Figure 3.3 Punakha – largest rice producer 43 Figure 3.4 Reasons for leaving agricultural land fallow 43 Figure 3.5 Unequal access to irrigation across dzongkhags 44 Figure 3.6 Success in fighting malaria 45 Figure 3.7 Child nutrition remains a challenges in some dzongkhags 47 Figure 3.8 Connectivity challenges differ across dzongkhags 49 Figure 4.1 Vehicle growth trend 71 Table 1.1 Climate shock, risk and human development impact 17 Table 2.1 Millennium development goals – status at a glance 35 Table 4.1 Technology needs for agriculture sector 57 Table 4.2 Promoting adaptation through social protection 64 Table 4.3 Assessment of adaptation funds for mountainous developing countries 74 ii BHUTAN NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011 Sustaining Progress: Rising to the Climate Challenge Foreword Foreword Bhutan’s Human Development Report 2011 “Sustaining Progress: Rising to the Climate Challenge” explores the linkages between climate change and human development in Bhutan. In Bhutan, conservation of the steadily with the 2008 human development environment and protection of tradition and index value assessed at 0.627 compared to culture are integral for enhancing the collective 0.599 in 2005. happiness of the Bhutanese people, and These human development index gains economic development only serves as a means have come not only from growth in real of achieving that aspiration. The Constitution income but accrued as a result of across-the- of the Kingdom of Bhutan mandates the board improvements in social indicators such maintenance of “60 per cent forest cover for as poverty reduction, expanded educational all times to come” and already, 51.4 per cent of enrolments, impressive declines in child the total land area is placed under a protected and maternal mortality and securing high area and biological corridor system. Of these access levels in the provisioning of water and conservation areas, the Northern Forest sanitation facilities. Most significantly, Bhutan Complex, which covers 28 per cent of the witnessed momentous socio-political change forest cover, has been labelled the Green Jewel during the implementation of the Tenth for its rich biodiversity. The complex provides Five Year Plan, particularly the adoption of essential ecosystem services to the region and the Constitution and the introduction of is home to glacial lakes which are the source parliamentary democracy in 2008. of the country’s major rivers that feed the Bhutan has always acted as a responsible hydropower plants currently generating 40 per member of the global society and given cent of the national revenue. These rivers also environmental stewardship utmost priority. feed into the major river systems in India and During the 2009 United Nations Framework the broader region, interconnecting Bhutan Convention on Climate Change’s 15th with its neighbours. Session of Conference of Parties (COP15) in At the same time, during the past decade, Copenhagen, the Royal Government of Bhutan as a result of massive investment in the committed to ensuring that the country’s hydropower sector and enormous expansion emissions do not exceed the sequestration in the economic and social infrastructure, capacity of its forests. To this end, Bhutan Bhutan enjoyed a sustained economic growth has adopted a green economic development of over 8 per cent. Notably, this economic policy in addition to strengthening further the growth occurred in a highly sustainable protection of its forests. In terms of the climate manner with minimal impact on the natural change policy framework, Bhutan is taking and cultural environments. Bhutan’s gross necessary steps to formulate national strategies domestic product also more than tripled on climate change including both adaptation in less than a decade from Nu 20 billion in and mitigation. We also recognize the need 2001 to Nu 61 billion in 2009. Inflation over to be prepared to mitigate and/or prevent the period on average remained below 6 per the risks of climate change through greater cent. The country also moved from a low to a promotion and use of renewable energy and medium human development ranked country clean technology as the country sustains its due to a significant scaling up of its human robust growth. The country’s efforts alone are development indicators. Bhutan’s human not enough, however, and there is a need for development index value has been rising both regional and global support to help it cope iii BHUTAN NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011 Sustaining Progress: Foreword Rising to the Climate Challenge with the adverse impacts of climate change. commitment. Support from the international community is Lastly, on behalf of the Royal Government required for not only maintaining the current of Bhutan, I would like to extend our levels of achievement in human development appreciation to the United Nations but also in building the resilience of the Development Programme and its Country Bhutanese people to the adverse impacts of Office in Bhutan for the extensive assistance climate change. Therefore, new and additional and cooperation provided in the preparation resources to address the full incremental cost and publication of this report. We would of tackling climate change will be crucial to also like to extend our deep appreciation alleviate its impact on the well-being of the to the National Technical Committee for Bhutanese people. their guidance and valuable inputs in the At the national level, it is envisaged that the preparation of this report. Bhutan Human Development Report 2011 will facilitate the mainstreaming of climate change issues into development policies and programmes so that they are addressed in a more holistic manner. The Report is also intended to reaffirm Bhutan’s commitment to remain carbon neutral and to encourage Karma Tshiteem private sector participation in meeting this Secretary, Gross National Happiness Commission. iv BHUTAN NATIONAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2011 Sustaining Progress: Rising to the Climate Challenge Acknowledgements Acknowledgements This Report was prepared with the chapter on mitigation and adaptation. overall guidance and support of the Gross A Technical Committee was set up, led National Happiness Commission (GNHC) by the GNHC, consisting of representatives Secretariat, Royal Government of Bhutan from GNHC, UNDP, National Environment under the leadership of Honourable Commission (NEC), Ministry of Agriculture Secretary, Mr. Karma Tshiteem. Mr. Sangay and Forests (MoAF), Ministry of Economic Dorji, Perspective Planning Division, Affairs (MoEA), Tarayana Foundation and GNHC; Mr. Lhaba Tshering, Sustainable National Statistics Bureau (NSB) to provide Development Secretariat, GNHC; and technical input and to manage the NHDR Ms. Fumie Arimizu, Poverty Reduction formulation process. The committee members and Millennium Development Goals Unit, who contributed substantively in discussions UNDP Bhutan were the main focal persons and provided vital inputs into the Report at various stages of the National Human throughout the preparation process were Development Report preparation process.