Climate Change and Security in South Asia

GMACCC Publishes “Climate Change & Security In South Asia: Cooperating For Peace”

 CCSinSA_Cover_647x900A GMACCC report published on 31 May 2016 warns that a recent drought in India which has affected over 330 million people – causing displacement and threatening farms –is just the first hint of how climate change could destabilise the South Asian region, unless steps are taken to address the threat posed by a warming, resource-scarce world.

Climate Change and Security in South Asia: Cooperating for Peace,” by GMACCC authorsLt. General Tariq Waseem Ghazi (Ret.) of Pakistan, Maj. General A.N.M. Muniruzzaman (Ret.) of Bangladesh, and Air Marshall A.K. Singh (Ret.) of India recommends that the region’s leaders strengthen cooperation to reduce the potential for widespread human suffering and further instability.

south asia context map final

The report also calls for better data collection and sharing to inform policies to prevent climate risks leading to conflict, humanitarian crises and the spread of extremism by groups that exploit opportunities in times of crises and instability. In South Asia, climate change will result in more frequent and more intense natural disasters, spurring water and food shortages, mass displacement and migration and competition over land and natural resources.

The publication comes days after the Pacific Islands called for the creation of a UN Special Representative on Climate and Security at the World Humanitarian Summit. In addition, last week G7 leaders meeting in Japan missed an opportunity to scale up their plans to address the implications of climate change for security, despite a year-long work plan by those governments on the issue. With more such impacts on the horizon, the compounding effects can have far reaching consequences undermining economic stability, increasing societal tensions and threatening regional and international security, the report warns.

Climate Change & Security In South Asia: Cooperating For Peace

Also see:

Caitlin E. Werrell and Francesco Femia, eds., The U.S. Asia-Pacific Rebalance, National Security And Climate Change, Center for Climate and Security (2015)

Bhattacharyya A, Werz M. Climate Change, Migration, and Conflict in South Asia: Rising Tensions and Policy Options Across the Subcontinent. Washington: Center for American Progress. 2012.