Building a climate-resilient ASEAN

Climate related hazards such as floods, typhoons, droughts, heat or cold waves and storm surges have affected over 57 million people in Asia Pacific, including Southeast Asia. Not only threatening lives of the most at-risk populations, these hazards also have ripple effects on community livelihoods, which can strip away income and food security. Over the last 50 years, Asia alone has accounted for half of the world’s economic losses from natural disasters, amounting to more than US$ 1.3 trillion.

As one of the most productive agricultural baskets in the world, ASEAN countries need to adapt quickly and appropriately to rising climate threats. Existing ASEAN policies and frameworks, in particular the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response Work Programme 2021–2025, provides concrete entry points for advancing anticipatory action and offer opportunities for further alignment and integration within disaster risk management systems. This panel will explore how data, research, policy will come together to address the imminent climate risks that ASEAN will face.