Climate resilience should be part of ASEAN security agenda – DENR
MANILA, Philippines – Environment officials and diplomats sounded the call for the Philippines, as chair of the ASEAN this year, to lead the inclusion of climate resilience in the region’s security agenda.
In a forum organized by think tank Stratbase Institute and the German Embassy in Manila, experts pointed out the shared security concerns of the region that climate change exacerbates: access to food and water, disasters that not only affect one country, and disruptions to supply chains leading to economic shocks that amplify inequalities.
“Climate change does not respect the boundaries on our maps,” German Ambassador Andreas Pfaffernoschke said on Monday, August 24. Germany considers the global climate crisis as a priority concern in their national security.
“A flood in one country can disrupt supply chains and another one,” said Pfaffernoschke. “Changes in fisheries can affect communities across maritime boundaries.”
Top environment and disaster officials in the Philippines echoed the call. Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna said in his message on Monday that “climate resilience must increasingly become part of our ASEAN’s regional security architecture.”
Cuna spoke of the need for “greater coherence” in articulating ASEAN’s demands to address the impact of climate change. “The region should speak with greater coherence in mobilizing the finance, technology, and partnerships needed for a just transition,” Cuna said.
The Philippines has identified ecological balance and climate change resiliency as one of its top concerns in the National Security Policy 2023-2028. Asia-Pacific is the considered the most disaster-prone region in the world.
‘Siloed’ steps
Toni Yulo-Loyzaga, former environment chief of the Philippines and now its special envoy for disaster risk reduction and management, said climate risks “can further escalate the potential for conflict and migration.”
Loyzaga pointed out on Monday several steps ASEAN has taken that treat climate resilience as a security concern. Among them is the signing of the Asean Regional Forum (ARF) Manila Plan of Action – where one of the agreed areas of cooperation is disaster relief that requires strengthened civil-military coordination.
The ARF is considered “a central pillar in the evolving regional security architecture.”
Other examples of climate action in ASEAN that Loyzaga enumerated: the construction of the ASEAN Centre for Climate Change in Brunei, and the cross-border disaster coordination agreed upon in the Manila-ASEAN Strategic Protocol for Emergency and Comprehensive Transformation.
However, these steps are still fragmented, according to Loyzaga. “There’s no shortage of structures and platforms in ASEAN,” she said.
“But this fragmentation still suggests siloed decision making and implementation.”
The 49th ASEAN summit is set for November 10 to 12 in Manila. – Rappler.com
