why countries in east asia and the pacific region are among the worst affected. we start in ukraine where a battlefield commander in the eastern town of bakhmut has told the bbc that the fighting is ferocious. a us official has said russian forces have made incremental advances around the town, with mercenaries from the russian paramilitary wagner group heavily involved in the assault. the battle has been described as a meat grinder with high numbers of casualties on both sides. almost all of the city s 70 thousand occupants have fled. russia is working hard to capture bakhmut in the hope it could lead to the fall of sloviansk and krama torsk as well the two most important cities in the donbas still under ukrainian control. but ukrainian forces are holding firm. the bbc s yogita limaye reports from the city. this is what the merciless bombardment of a city looks like. and how it sounds. once a quiet place known for sparkling wine, bakhmut is now a byword for war. and
For part of CNA's coverage of Ecosperity Week 2023, Teresa Tang spoke to Lauren Sorkin, Executive Director of the Resilient Cities Network, about the biggest challenges urban areas face. She explains the importance of cities having a 'Chief Resilience Officer', who focuses on finding vulnerabilities and engaging stakeh
with the region set to continue to be heavily impacted by the changing climate. the world bank estimates that 13 of the 30 countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are in the east asia and pacific region. earlier i spoke to lauren sorkin, executive director of the resilient cities network, and i began by asking her why the philippines in particular is so vulnerable. in the philippines, like other countries in the region, has an immense amount of coastline. so when you see extreme weather, you have vulnerability in coastal areas and you also have a highly, highly urbanised population and where you had dense urban development often there is nowhere for the water to go and this presents a lot of danger. in a country like the philippines you have thousands of islands, so you also see that there is a compounding of and vulnerability there where you
floods over christmas. the world bank estimates that 13 of the 30 countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are in the east asia and pacific region. well, for more on this, we can speak to lauren sorkin who is the executive director of the resilient cities network. shejoins us live from singapore. we ve just heard about people fighting to protect the environment in the philippines why isthat country in particular so prone to climate related weather disasters? thank you for having me. the philippines, like other countries in the region as an immense amount of coastline, but we see extreme weather, we have vulnerability in coastal areas and also a highly urbanised population and what you have for urban development, there nowhere for the water to