International Conference on Climate Change and Fragility in the Asia-Pacific Region

12th July, Mrs Fetoloai Alama Yandall (ACEO-PUMA) represented the Ministry to the International Conference on Climate Change and Fragility of the Asia Pacific Region. She was one of the Panellists that had facilitated the discussions on Climate Change issues and the developing strategies to overcome Climate Change impacts in the region.

The Conference was initiated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and was organised by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES).  Japan, as a member of the G7 has been working to initiate discussions with the Asia-Pacific countries on Climate Change risks prior to the COP 23 (2017) and also after the COP 23.

The conference that was organised by Japan to discuss the impacts of climate change on the fragility of Asia-Pacific countries with the intention of raising awareness on the matter and seeking solutions.

The participants of the Conference were mostly from Japan with some country representatives from the Pacific (Samoa and Fiji) and other parts of Asia (Thailand and Malaysia).  The majority of the participants were from the business / industry sector of Japan, academia from Universities, Organisations and Institutions; and government officials involved in Climate Change.   Their different perspectives were sought to better understand the necessary steps to be taken by various stakeholders in order to address long-term impact of climate change on socio-economic activities in the Asia-Pacific region. The outcomes of the Conference will further contribute to G7 meetings on climate change.

The one day conference included 2 panel discussion sessions (broad issues) and scenario-type break-out group discussions.

The conference had 4 main objectives:

  1. Spike awareness about the business risks and opportunities from the nexus climate and fragility by highlighting immediate and long-term physical / financial risks and looking at them from the different perspectives of social, political, and human security risks.
  2. Encourage long-term thinking on how these risks affect participants’ businesses and areas of expertise, including around the disclosure of climate risks and reinforcing the long tail of time for climate impacts.
  3. Prompt collaboration amongst different stakeholders to strengthen their risk management strategies
  4. Encourage more diligent climate risk analyses, emphasizing that we are seeing these risks materialize sooner than anticipated, analysed and mapped for the business community.

Panel discussion 1 included:   Mr. Alexander CARIUS, Managing Director, Adelphi / Dr. Yasuko KAMEYAMA, Deputy Director, Center for Social and Environmental Systems Research, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan (NIES) / Ms. Mari YOSHITAKA, Chief Consultant, Clean Energy Finance Division, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd. / Dr. Megumi MUTO, Deputy Director, Global Environment Department, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)and Dr. Daisaku HIGASHI, Professor, Center for Global Education and Discovery, Sophia University. 

Panel Discussion 2 included: Mrs. Fetoloai Yandall-Alama, ACEO PUMA, MNRE, Samoa /Ms. Sally YOZELL, Senior Associate & Director, Environmental Security Program, The Stimson Center / Dr. Koji DAIRAKU, Senior Researcher, National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED) / Ms. Miho KUROSAKI, Head of Japan and Korea Research, Bloomberg New Energy Finance / (A Southeast Asia representative is also being invited.)

The outcomes of the Conference will further contribute to discussions of the G7 on climate change, with Japan as a representative of the Asia Pacific Region.

This is an opportunity to tap into further support from Japan given their key role in assisting the pacific region through the Asia Pacific Region context.  It is also an opportunity for MNRE to see how we can organise and implement a Conference with the business/industry sector to discuss climate change issues and their role in climate change solutions.  This is a gap that MNRE has to consider with urgency.