Security Implications of Climate Change: Perspectives from the Bay of Bengal
When: 6 October 2023 | 15:50 - 16:50
Format: Roundtable discussion
Venue: Breakout room 4 (Rathenau-Saal)
The Bay of Bengal is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world. It also is confronted with significant strategic, political, social, and economic fault lines. Together, they can create conditions for volatile security dynamics, social friction and conflict. The region holds complex relationships between climate change and security, but this is an underexplored area of research. At the same time, exchange between existing climate change and security discourses in the region is limited.
To help close this gap, the partnership between the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (India) and the Clingendael Institute (Netherlands) has been addressing climate security topics in the Bay of Bengal, convening a diverse group of regional experts since 2021. At this BCSC session, IPCS-Clingendael experts will share the project’s findings, focusing on two fundamental questions:
- What does ‘climate security’ mean to the Bay of Bengal?
- Could 'climate security’ approaches be beneficial for the region?
The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (Switzerland) was invited to respond, drawing from their work in the Bay of Bengal in the framework of the Weathering Risk Peace Pillar initiative.
The session had three objectives:
- Platform Bay of Bengal conceptualisations of the security implications of climate change
- Debate the merits and costs of securitising climate change
- Facilitate learning and idea exchange in a global, multidisciplinary setting.
Speakers:
- M. Riaz Hamidullah, Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Netherlands
- S. Hasanthi Dissanayake, Sri Lankan Ambassador to Turkey; formerly Additional Secretary, Ocean Affairs, Environment and Climate Change, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sri Lanka
- Anil Chopra, Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), India
Moderated by Sreejith Sugunan, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), Switzerland
Return to BCSC 2023's agenda.