International Conference on Climate Security in the Asia-Pacific Region

Opening Remarks
By H.E. Cho Tae-yul
Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of Korea

March 21, 2013
Marriott Hotel

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Vice Minister Pithaya Pookaman from Thailand,
State Minister Dipankar Talukdar from Bangladesh,
Chancellor Kim Byung Kook of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Speakers, Discussants and Participants,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is indeed a great honor and pleasure for me to address the International Conference on “Climate Security in the Asia-Pacific Region” that is taking place here in Seoul. As the host of this Conference, let me first express my sincere appreciation to the co-organizers, Korea National Diplomatic Academy and the Asan Institute for Policy Studies and the UNESCAP, for the excellent arrangements they made for this important meeting. I would also like to thank our colleagues from Germany and the United Kingdom for their intellectual inputs in preparing for this Conference. My special thanks also go to those of you who have travelled a long way to participate in this event.

Last year, we saw millions of people in the world devastated by another extreme flood in Thailand, coastal instability due to rising sea levels in Tuvalu, severe droughts in China, and the worst cold snap in a quarter of a century in Europe.

The risks that we are facing today posed by the impacts of climate change such as frequent and intensive floods and droughts are real and have reached an intolerable level. All these climate-induced risks, as a “threat multiplier”, are exacerbating the social and economic crisis in states and regions which are already fragile and prone to conflict.

As the impacts of climate change become stronger and more diverse, so too the global responses that require a multi-disciplinary and holistic approach. It was in this context that the UN Security Council joined the discussions on climate change holding debates on the security implications of the issue and that discussions on climate security were taken up by Germany and the United Kingdom in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Those meetings reached the conclusion, among others, that the international community needs to build early warning capacities and to foster partnerships for early action and conflict prevention. The Asia-Pacific region is no exception. Indeed, this region could be more seriously affected by the adverse impacts of climate change, particularly due to the high population density, poor infrastructure and low resilience to the impacts of climate change. The range of possible negative impacts on national and international security is wide. Therefore, the initiative to hold an international conference on climate security in the Asia-Pacific region is both timely and necessary.

Building on the progress already made in Berlin and London, I hope that you will seek to identify the most significant risks and threats arising from climate change and their security implications for the Asia-Pacific region. In particular, I would invite your attention to the areas of coastal stability, water security and climate-induced migration.

On that basis, the most important contribution by this Conference would be to identify concrete cases of “threat minimizers” in this region as well as in individual countries, in terms of policy improvement and coordination, preventive mechanisms and further potential areas for bilateral and regional partnership.

However, as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” Those threat minimizers should be substantiated through actions. I firmly believe that now is the right time to build an effective partnership in the Asia-Pacific region. This partnership should be a workable mechanism tapping our collective will, fully reflecting the perspective of climate security and translating all the wisdom into practical action.

It is my sincere hope that the issue of climate security shall be the focus of sustained attention in our region. Follow-up initiatives fuelled by our close cooperation in major regional and sub-regional organizations shall be crucial to this end. Furthermore, we need to build a common and harmonized approach for each and every issue area identified at this Conference. Once a cooperative mechanism is established, concrete programs to prevent or mitigate climate change impacts could be worked out and implemented.

I would also like to underline that this Conference should send out a clear and significant message on the importance of early actions to overcome the daunting tasks we face and thereby provide valuable impetus for the 2014 United Nations Summit on Climate Change.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me conclude my remarks by emphasizing the fact that the impact of climate change on international security is not a problem of the future but already of today. And it is one which will stay with us through many years to come.

I wish you all the best in your intellectual exercise today and tomorrow. The achievements that you make here will send a clear signal to the world that, acting together, we are fully committed to responding to all the adverse impacts of climate change.

Thank you very much.