BLUF
An Australian ‘whole of government approach', including more funding, is urgently needed to combat the security and economic implications of rapid climate change on our region.Summary
The ADF and other agencies need more funding due to the effects of climate change. Maritime Southeast Asia (MSEA) will be one of the world's worst climate affected regions. The ADF is likely to be stretched by supporting disaster relief at home, at the same time as assisting or protecting our region. Some regional issues are:
- Security.
- Food shortages/hunger.
- Mass people movements.
- Flooding.
- Crop yields.
- Declining fish stocks.
- Humanitarian disasters.
- Economic development.
- Political instability.
A 'whole of government' approach is needed that includes:
- Defence.
- Home Affairs.
- Foreign Affairs and Trade.
- CSIRO.
- Health.
- The Bureau of Meteorology.
- Australian Aid (strengthening regional resilience to climate change).
- Agriculture etc.
Climate change-induced political, economic and security tipping points occurring together could cause a regional crisis. Working with the QUAD, Australia will need to adapt to more frequent, higher impact regional natural disasters through acquiring more equipment and more training.
References
- Feb 2021 ASPI Reducing Asia’s climate vulnerability
- Mar 2021 ASPI Navies must reduce their carbon emissions in the face of climate change
- Apr 2021 Defence needs to rethink its disaster-relief strategy
- Apr 2021 The Conversation ‘Failure is not an option’: after a lost decade on climate action, the 2020s offer one last chance
