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Yearly Archives: 2024
November 2024 Update: Military Responses to Climate Hazards (MiRCH) Tracker
By Ethan Wong
In November 2024, the Military Responses to Climate Hazards (MiRCH) tracker identified 18 military deployments in response to climate-related disasters in 11 countries, including responses to a series of four typhoons in the Philippines and sustained recovery efforts after October’s catastrophic flooding in Spain.
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Establishing an Ecological Security Framework for Southeast Asia
By John Lichtefeld, Ecological Security Fellow
Edited by Andrea Rezzonico and Francesco Femia
Introduction
The concept of “ecological security” references the threats to human, national, and global security that arise from the interconnected effects of climate change, environmental degradation, and ecosystem collapse. Though ecological security is a relatively novel concept, its constituent elements—including aspects of traditional and non-traditional (e.g., human, environmental, climate, and bio) security concepts—are generally understood globally, even as their use and application vary by region.
In Southeast Asia, non-traditional security concepts are recognized but tend to have specialized contexts and are applied uniquely among different stakeholders in different countries. Ecological security is not well recognized at this point, and its framework for holistic assessment of complex and interconnected threat groupings has not yet gained wide traction.
This briefing note assesses the relevance of ecological security and related concepts in Southeast Asia and provides a preliminary cataloging and analysis of some of the most pressing complex ecological security threats facing the region, including recommendations for establishing a framework for future analysis, policy, and practice. It has been informed primarily by three roundtable sessions with participants, including regional academics and practitioners and US and European experts on regional and ecological security concepts. Three major ecological security trends emerged from the discussions: the Mekong ecosystem polycrisis, the unanticipated externalities of an accelerated green transition, and the impact of environmental crimes on regional security. The brief offers three preliminary recommendations to interested practitioners for establishing an ecological security framework for Southeast Asia, including; increasing dialogue between experts, security services, and civil society; developing working groups among experts to break silos and bridge practical divides; and drawing clear connections between ecological security risks and political-security outcomes.
Geopolitics and the COP
By Scott Moore
Fighting climate change is supposed to be about cooperation for the common good. Or at least that has been the main message of every United Nations climate conference for the past two decades, the latest iteration of which just wrapped up. But high-minded calls to cooperate for the sake of the climate are increasingly running headlong into a hard-nosed reality: growing geopolitical competition between great powers. Unfortunately, geopolitics can make it harder for countries to work together to solve the climate crisis. But if you look carefully, they can also create opportunities to advance climate action.
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Peace and Security at COP29
By Noah Fritzhand and Anna Spear
Introduction
In November, Azerbaijan hosted the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29). The event’s start was marked by sharp divisions, including disputes over the agenda, temporary breakdowns in negotiations, a boycott by Papua New Guinea, and criticism of Baku’s conference leadership. Key agenda items included increasing climate finance for poor countries, advancing COP28’s pledge to transition away from fossil fuels, and building resilient food systems, all of which featured important security and geopolitical dynamics. In the end, the agreed upon finance goal fell short of what many developing countries called for, decisions on next steps toward a fossil fuel phaseout were punted to COP30, and any progress was largely overshadowed by concerns about Azerbaijan’s COP Presidency.
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