Interconnected issues, voices from the margins: The Indo-Pacific needs an inclusive climate policy

Amidst geopolitical flux and increasing tensions, the Indo-Pacific remains one of the world’s most important economic and geopolitical regions. This shared space comprises 40 economies, 65% of the world’s population (around 4.3 billion people) and $47.19 trillion in economic activity. The threat from climate change looms large in the region, endangering millions of lives and potentially having a significant impact on global economic growth.

Recognising its strategic importance and these potential vulnerabilities, many of the world’s major geopolitical players – whether situated in the region or beyond – have drawn out security blueprints and policy programs focused on the Indo-Pacific over the past decade.

A number of these actors, including Germany, the United States, Canada, France, South Korea, and Bangladesh, have incorporated climate security and its various dimensions into their strategies. But efforts to engage with the climate challenge within a geopolitical framework will remain lacking if the diverse needs of the Indo-Pacific’s people are not included.

Our research at Kubernein Initiative has focused on the human impact of the interconnectedness of climate change (in terms of weather patterns and more frequent and intense natural hazards), with urban development as well as more “traditional” security concerns, faced by the people in the Indo-Pacific.

The Indian Ocean region is referred...

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