Environmental Security

The Asia Pacific region’s contribution to global economic growth has been steadily rising over the past decade. Many argue that the twentieth first century is the century of the Asia Pacific in which rising China and India will play important role. As a result, the region shoulders a greater share of regional and global environment-related burdens. Many serious environmental issues are taking place in the region: land has been eroded; fisheries depleted; forest and coastal ecosystems degraded; air and water polluted; and natural forests are in decline given some 60 percent of the region’s mangrove forests have been converted to aquaculture.

Water is becoming the main factor in social and international conflict, poverty, and infectious diseases caused by unclean water. Mismanagement of underground water and transboundary rivers contribute to the running short of water supply. Industries are absorbing large part of fresh water. According to research, industrial water use will quadruple in India by 2050. This phenomenon will be the same in China and other emerging economies. For instance, Siem Reap city is well known for tourists from around the world due to it harbors Angkor Wat temple. Tourism industry is booming in this city. Hotels are mushrooming and migration is increasing dramatically. The main problem here is water! Most of the hotels use underground water without proper regulation and management. If such trend continues, it will destabilize the underground water layer which could collapse the temples with proximity to city area. Tourism without sustainable management is a disaster for environmental, historical, and human heritage.

Asia harbors seven out of ten of the world’s most polluted cities. Urban pollution is a big concern now and will be a big headache for many governments. Water and electricity supply is sacrificed from rural to the urban areas. This enlarges more disparity between the rural and urban areas. The flood of rural people into the city puts much more pressure on management. Air pollution makes people unhealthy and stressful. Social conflict dominates city planning. Urban politics surpass nation state. Unsustainable urban management can lead to national and international disaster.

The rise of temperature has great impact on the livelihood of millions of people in the region. Climate change is putting human security into danger. Crop yields are expected to decline by up to 70% for typical crops in northern India if the temperatures raise by 2-3 Degree Celsius, placing 30 to 200 million people at risk of hunger. The already dry areas of southern China and the Indian subcontinent will lose 30% of their water availability if temperatures rise by 2 Degree Celsius, while parts of South Asia could receive 10% more water and experience regular floods. Temperature increases of 3-4 Degree Celsius would cause sea levels to rise and storms in coastal areas and islands. Many Asian coastal cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Karachi and Tokyo and many island economies will risk inundation at massive economic and social cost.