Climate Security

The research programme on climate security examines the governance of climate change initiatives in Southeast Asia and the impacts of climate change on food security, energy security and environmental security in the region. It includes research projects on national and regional policy responses and practices across ASEAN Member States with special emphasis on climate change adaptation, food security, marine environmental protection, and nuclear energy.

Core Research Areas

The programme is divided into four research themes: (1) climate change adaptation, (2) food security, (3) marine environmental protection, and (4) nuclear energy.

Climate Change Adaptation
Climate change is a threat multiplier whose impacts are already seen in the increasing intensity and frequency of climate-related disasters. Considering serious concerns brought about by the changing climate, policies in addressing climate change no longer look only at mitigation but increasingly have a strong focus on adaptation. While there has been a lot of debate on mitigation and disaster risk reduction at the global level, particularly for regions that are vulnerable to climate change, adaptation has become a more important consideration. The Centre examines climate adaptation efforts by:
- - Auditing climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction policies at national level across the region;
  - Comparing the frameworks for climate change cooperation across regions;
  - Examining regional cooperation mechanisms for climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts; and
  - Analysing regional climate change cooperation on selected sectors including transportation, energy and cities.
  In addition, the Centre also looks into other relevant aspects including the development of smart cities, urban resilience, and relevant environmental risks brought about by the 4th Industrial Revolution.

Food Security
Access to markets for both consumers and producers is critical in ensuring food security of communities (Credit: World Bank / flickr).

Food production and food security have suffered from changing temperatures and less stable access to water, both globally and within the Asia-Pacific region. For smallholder agricultural communities, farming is becoming a less reliable source of food and income, driving some to hunger or even displacement. Cities, where two-thirds of the world population are expected to reside by 2050, are increasingly vulnerable as they source most of their food from rural areas or abroad. Weather disturbances create the risk that food shipments are disrupted, while volatility in global food prices could make food economically inaccessible.

Building on the Centre’s previous research on climate-related food production vulnerabilities, it now looks towards cities as potential solutions, by increasing urban food self-sufficiency. In this regard, the Centre examines key economic and policy issues related to scaling up indoor farms in cities, the rural-urban interface, and the balance between food supply (mainly from rural areas) and demand (mainly from urban areas) in the context of emerging disruptive technologies.

Given different climatic environments, food supply chains are becoming increasingly fragmented across multiple countries, making food borne diseases (FBDs) harder to track. This is aggravated when disease pathogens develop resistance to the antimicrobials intended to address them, a trend known as ‘antimicrobial resistance’ (AMR). In this regard, the Centre is assessing the relevance and viability of the revolutionary Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) technology, which maps the genome of food and related diseases in order to identify the geographical source of diseases across the supply chain and track trends of AMR. This is in collaboration with the NTU Food Technology Centre (NAFTEC), which specializes in these technologies.

Marine Environmental Protection
South China Sea (Credit: Stefan Litster / flickr).

Unsustainable human development has caused serious pollution in our seas and this has been aggravated by climate change. The consequences of marine environmental deterioration are particularly pronounced and threatening in Southeast Asia, where the seas affect a wide range of human security aspects. Moreover, the challenges are complicated by maritime territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Against this background, the Marine Environmental Protection project attempts to fill in the gap in the research on the South China Sea disputes by engaging in policy debates from a non-traditional security (NTS) perspective. By examining the status of the marine environment and the effects of climate change in this strategic but contested sea lane, this project explores the norms of marine environmental protection and regional cooperation in the South China Sea. It examines the prospects of regional cooperation on marine environmental cooperation in the South China Sea and identifies key issues and challenges that may hinder regional cooperation.

In addition, the research explores the controversial facets of transboundary fishing, namely illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the South China Sea. This research examines the entanglement of small-scale fisheries in geopolitical struggles and their social and ecological ramifications. It investigates the implications of IUU fishing in a particular developing country’s Exclusive Economic Zone and impacts on the livelihoods of fishermen.

Nuclear Energy
The development of nuclear power in some countries in Southeast Asia remains an attractive option to address increasing energy needs (Credit: rowens27 / flickr).

Nuclear energy has been widely promoted as a clean and carbon-free energy source that can make a significant contribution to achieving the climate change mitigation target of the Paris Agreement. Several ASEAN Member States aspire to include nuclear energy in their future and long-term power generation sources to boost their energy security and reduce their carbon emissions.

While there is no operable nuclear power plant in Southeast Asia, radioactive materials are already widely used for civilian applications in medical, industrial, agricultural, and scientific research fields. Without stringent oversight on the use and handling of radioactive materials, there are potential risks of these being accidentally leaked, stolen and used for malicious purposes, or released indiscriminately by non-state actors. Hence, it is crucial to comprehensively analyse how radiological security, a subset of nuclear security, can be further strengthened in the context of Southeast Asia’s security environment.

This research project focuses on prospects for and emerging challenges to civilian nuclear energy development in Southeast Asia as well as the effectiveness of the ASEAN Network of Regulatory Bodies on Atomic Energy (ASEANTOM) in enhancing regional nuclear governance. It identifies and examines gaps in nuclear governance in the region and how ASEAN Member States, through the ASEANTOM, deepens cooperation on civilian nuclear energy, including nuclear safety, security, and nuclear emergency preparedness and response.

Publications

RSIS Commentaries

NTS/Policy Reports

NTS Insights / Briefs

NTS Bulletin

Books and Edited Chapters

Year In Review

Journal Articles

Op-eds

Last updated on 17/12/2020

Address

Climate Security

Core Research Areas

Publications