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Foreign policies regarding the impact of climate change on fragility in the Asia-Pacific region

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan

In this report, various challenges faced by Asia-Pacific's most vulnerable areas to disasters attributed to climate change are specified, and a qualitative analysis is made on the instability of public security, politics and social climate observed in the region. The purpose of these two exercises is to gain insight into the situation through the overlapping of natural science and social science perspectives.

Climate change is regarded as one of the most critical issues which pose a threat to the security and economic prosperity at a global level. According to A New Climate for Peace, an independent report commissioned by the G7 foreign ministers to a group of think tanks in 2015, seven climate fragility risks with the potential of posing a substantial threat to national and social security were specified, and the respective G7 countries have decided to consider the effects of these factors on diplomatic policies.

  1. Local resource competition
  2. Livelihood insecurity and migration
  3. Extreme weather events and disasters
  4. Volatile food prices and provision
  5. Transboundary water management
  6. Seal level rise and coastal degradation
  7. Unintended effects of climate policies

The necessity for a fast response against climate-related fragility risks was recognized at the G7 Foreign Minister Meeting held in Hiroshima in April 2016, along with the importance of taking action towards a common goal of mitigating fragility risks, in order to strengthen the global recovering capacity against climate change. Against such backdrop, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan hosted an international conference with the participation of G7 experts to accelerate the work in Japan and among G7 countries. This report is based on specific proposals from the roundtable seminar in January 2017 and the follow-up meetings in February and March.

[This description was extracted from the introduction and executive summary of the report]

 

adelphi's papers on climate-fragility risks in Asia are available in English as well as Japanese (日本語) and can be accessed here:

 

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