RSIS Roundtable on “Climate Security in the Indo-Pacific: Strategic Implications for Defense and Foreign Affairs”
The IPCC Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis report released on 9 August 2021 highlighted that we face increases in the frequency and intensity of hot extremes, marine heatwaves, and heavy precipitation, agricultural and ecological droughts in some regions, and proportion of intense tropical cyclones. Climate change acts as a threat multiplier, increasing security threats across our region from devastating storms, sea level rise, and extreme heat to knock-on effects such as the migration of fish stocks which compromise our food security.
Governments have started to design and incorporate climate-proofing measures into foreign and defense policies in the region. Moreover, the Russian invasion of Ukraine have highlighted the risks of fossil fuel dependency as a direct threat to security. While this has inspired plans to increase investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency, it has also caused provoked calls for greater fossil fuel extraction in the near-term. The divergent effects of the crisis on carbon emissions demonstrate how conflict may present a risk to states’ continued commitments towards the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
This closed-door event gathers experts to discuss Climate Security in the Indo-Pacific and its implications on regional affairs and beyond. Participants will evaluate the role of climate change as a crisis multiplier and the perceptions of climate change in the region. Speakers will reflect on the place of climate change within national contexts paying particular attention to the military.
About the Speakers
Mely Caballero-Anthony is Professor of International Relations and holds the President’s Chair of International Relations and Security Studies at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She is also Head of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. Prof Anthony is currently a member of the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network on Nuclear Non-Proliferation (APLN) and is Secretary-General for the Consortium on Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia). From 2013 to 2017, Prof Anthony served on the UN Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters (ABDM) and was its Chairperson in 2016. She was Director of External Relations at the ASEAN Secretariat from 2011-2012.
Her research interests include regionalism and multilateralism in Asia-Pacific, global governance, human security and non-traditional security, nuclear security and conflict prevention. She has published extensively on a broad range of political and security issues in Asia-Pacific in peer-reviewed journals and international academic presses. Her latest books, both single-authored and co-edited, include: Nuclear Governance in the Indo-Pacific (Routledge, 2022), Negotiating Governance on Non-Traditional Security in Southeast Asia and Beyond (NY: Columbia University Press, 2018), An Introduction to Non-Traditional Security Studies (London: Sage Publications, 2018), Human Security and Climate Change (UK: Routledge, 2013).
Alistair D. B. Cook is Coordinator of the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief Programme and Senior Fellow at the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. His research interests focus geographically on the Asia-Pacific and Myanmar in particular and thematically on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), foreign policy and regional cooperation.
Ben Cashore is Li Ka Shing Professor in Public Management and Director, Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES) at the National University of Singapore. He specialises in global and multi-level environmental governance, comparative public policy and administration, and transnational business regulation/corporate social responsibility. His substantive research interests include climate policy, biodiversity conservation/land use change, and sustainable environmental management of forests and related agricultural sectors.
Cheryl Durrant has over 30 years’ experience in the national security sector with the Australian Department of Defence and Australian Army. Cheryl is currently an Executive Member of the Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change and the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group, an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales, and a Climate Councillor.
Dhanasree Jayaram is a Research Fellow at Centre Marc Bloch (CMB) and Guest Researcher at Freie Universität Berlin – under the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s International Climate Protection Fellowship (for postdocs) 2022-23. She is an Assistant Professor, Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, and Co-coordinator, Centre for Climate Studies, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Karnataka, India.
Florian Krampe is Director of SIPRI’s Climate Change and Risk Programme. His particular focus is on peace and conflict research, environmental and climate security, and international security. His work bridges academia and policy and focuses on the foundations of peace and security, especially the processes of building peace after armed conflict in regions highly exposed to climate change. Dr Krampe is an Affiliated Researcher at the Research School for International Water Cooperation at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University and a Specially Appointed Professor at Hiroshima University, Japan.
Maria Ortuoste is professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at California State University East Bay. She is an expert on Southeast Asia and Indo/Asia-Pacific security, Philippine and U.S. foreign policy, international law and maritime security, military alliances and security multilateralism. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Ortuoste served eight years in the Philippine Foreign Service Institute’s Center for International Relations and Strategic Studies (CIRSS). As a senior research analyst and, later, head of the Center, Dr. Ortuoste directed their research program which covered all aspects of Philippine foreign policy.
Takashi Sekiyama is Associate Professor of International Political Economy at Kyoto University. He received his first doctorate in Law from Peking University, his second doctorate in International Studies from the University of Tokyo, and his Master’s degree in Sustainability Studies from Harvard University. He worked for the Japanese government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance) for 10 years between 1998 and 2008. His authored/co-authored books include Climate Security (Tokai Education Research Institute, 2021; in Japanese) among others. His research interests are global environmental politics and international relations in the Asia-Pacific.
Hideshi Tokuchi is the President of Research Institute for Peace and Security (RIPS). He teaches international security studies as a visiting professor at National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). He served as Japan’s first-ever Vice-Minister of Defense for International Affairs from 2014 to 2015.
Philips J Vermonte is Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of UIII. Before joining UIII, Dr. Vermonte served as Executive Director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Indonesia, and Chairman of the Indonesian Pollsters Association (Persepi). Dr. Vermonte’s research interest includes comparative politics, electoral competition, voting behaviors, party system, democratization, and foreign policy. His works have appeared in Asian Politics & Policy, Middle East Development Journal, Indonesian Quarterly, Jurnal Perempuan, and Jurnal Maarif.
Pichamon Yeophantong is Associate Professor and Head of Research at the Centre for Future Defence and National Security, Deakin University at the Australian War College. As an Australian Research Council Fellow, she also leads the Responsible Business Lab and the Environmental Justice and Human Rights Project. In addition to a multi-year project on how to better regulate Chinese overseas investment in the water and energy sectors, Pichamon is working with civil society and other partners on a series of initiatives to support the resilience of women leaders and environmental human rights defenders in the Asia-Pacific.
