About Climate Action (SDG 13): Framing Climate Change as a Security Issue and Outcomes of UNFCCC-COP28

On this episode of About Sustainability…, Alice and Erin were joined by Naoyuki OKANO and Nagisa SHIIBA, IGES experts working on Climate Adaptation. This episode, recorded in December 2023, offers a quick recap of what happened at COP28 in Dubai and then dives deep into the far-reaching impacts of climate change on human security. 

Hosted in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) brought the world’s leaders together to discuss how to confront the climate crisis. Some of its main outcomes include the first Global Stocktake (GST), the agreement on the framework for operationalising the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), and the agreement on the operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund. 

Naoyuki and Nagisa introduce us to their new research project on Climate Security in the Asia Pacific, funded by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We discuss how framing the climate crisis as a security issue can be a powerful approach to mobilising resources across areas and tackling global challenges.

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Dr. Naoyuki OKANO is a Policy Researcher in the Adaptation and Water Unit of IGES. He works on issues related to the laws and governance of climate change adaptation, nature-based solutions, transboundary climate risks, and climate security. 

Nagisa SHIIBA is a Policy Researcher at the Adaptation and Water Unit of IGES. She is engaged in research projects on climate change adaptation and supports the negotiation process for the Japanese delegation to the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS AND PROJECTS

Asia-Pacific Climate Security Project (APCS) Website 

TIMESTAMPS

00:10 - 02:10             Intro                                         

02:10 - 05:06             COP 28                                   

05:06 - 13:18             Global Goal on Adaptation     

13:18 - 17:33             Loss and Damage 

17:33 - 36:07             Climate Security 

36:07 - 51:18             Climate Migration 

51:18 - 54:22             Food Security 

54:22 - 57:00             Balancing Security Issues in Climate Adaptation Plans 

"About Sustainability..." is a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental policy think-tank based in Hayama, Japan. IGES experts are concerned with environmental and sustainability challenges. Everything shared on the podcast will be off-the-cuff discussion, and any viewpoints expressed are those held by the speaker at the time of recording. They are not necessarily official IGES positions.

On this episode of About Sustainability…, Erin, Alice, and Simon were joined by Matthew Hengesbaugh and Chochoe Devaporihartakula, IGES experts working on plastic pollution. While plastics have been an indispensable part of modern life, plastic pollution has entered the public consciousness in recent years. It is an issue that most of us encounter every day.

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) agreed in 2022 to create an intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) to establish a legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution. 

We discussed how serious plastic pollution is in Asia, what the INC is trying to achieve, what was discussed at the recent meeting (INC-3) including the challenges that emerged, and what is needed for an ambitious treaty to tackle this transboundary issue.

About our guests:

Chochoe Devaporihartakula manages the regional project portfolio addressing plastics and marine pollution at the IGES Bangkok Regional Centre. She also serves as a Programme Manager for the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network, where she is dedicated to promoting improved compliance with environmental laws and regulations through environmental agencies across 18 countries in Asia.

Matthew Hengesbaugh is a Policy Researcher supporting the IGES Integrated Sustainability Centre with action research on the 2030 Development Agenda, working on issues such as climate change, green jobs, green economy, and sustainable consumption and production.

Relevant publications and projects:

• Previous podcast episodes on this topic:
  • What is UNEA-5.2?
  • Updates from the ongoing political and scientific processes to reduce plastic pollution
• SWITCH-Asia’s policy brief on INC-3

"About Sustainability..." is a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental policy think-tank based in Hayama, Japan. IGES experts are concerned with environmental and sustainability challenges. Everything shared on the podcast will be off-the-cuff discussion, and any viewpoints expressed are those held by the speaker at the time of recording. They are not necessarily official IGES positions.

It’s been a while since our last installment but today’s episode is a special interview with a long-serving member of IGES who has had a fascinating career, from which he just recently retired. Peter King has been based at IGES’s office in Bangkok, but has been mentor and advisor to many of us at IGES. In a wide-ranging discussion Alice, Shom, Simon and Andre spoke with Peter about his career, his reasons for choosing it, and the environment in general. Please listen in especially if you’re starting off in any environmental discipline - you’re sure to learn something from Peter. 

"About Sustainability..." is a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental policy think-tank based in Hayama, Japan. IGES experts are concerned with environmental and sustainability challenges. Everything shared on the podcast will be off-the-cuff discussion, and any viewpoints expressed are those held by the speaker at the time of recording. They are not necessarily official IGES positions.

Our guest on this episode is Akihisa Kuriyama, a policy researcher in IGES’ Climate & Energy Unit. He joins us to talk about SDG7 on energy. We spoke about the relationship between energy and climate; what’s new about SDG 7 in the global discussion on energy; some of the barriers and challenges in achieving the goal; the possibilities of nuclear energy; and the best ways of getting energy to the largest possible number of people, as quickly as possible. A number of examples were given to illustrate parts of the discussion.

Relevant links:

• SDG7: GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
• Kuriyama-san’s work at IGES: https://www.iges.or.jp/en/about/staff/kuriyama-akihisa  

"About Sustainability..." is a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental policy think-tank based in Hayama, Japan. IGES experts are concerned with environmental and sustainability challenges. Everything shared on the podcast will be off-the-cuff discussion, and any viewpoints expressed are those held by the speaker at the time of recording. They are not necessarily official IGES positions.

In this episode we met with Amila from IGES who shared the latest updates on  international plastics governance.  Among others, he described details on the international negotiations committee that was formed last year to define a legally binding instrument to curb plastic pollution. We heard who is on that committee and what they do when they meet. He also explained details and challenges around what is called the life cycle approach and explained why experts are working on approaches to account for the impacts of plastics throughout its entire life cycle. In this regard we were also able to hear some examples of the work he and his colleagues are doing to help build the needed capacity at local levels to measure plastic pollution and to be able to take steps to reduce it.


Relevant links:

• Information on the lifecycle approach: https://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/UNEP-D010-Food-Packaging-Re[…]Version-1-1.pdf/UNEP-D010-Food-Packaging-Report-2-1.pdf 

• What makes reliable data for microplastics policy? ​​https://isap.iges.or.jp/2022/en/t13.html 

"About Sustainability..." is a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental policy think-tank based in Hayama, Japan. IGES experts are concerned with environmental and sustainability challenges. Everything shared on the podcast will be off-the-cuff discussion, and any viewpoints expressed are those held by the speaker at the time of recording. They are not necessarily official IGES positions.

In this episode of About Sustainability…

Erin and Bob talked to Binaya Raj Shivakoti, an IGES expert in the Adaptation and Water team, about SDG6, which is on “ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” (or simply ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’). This goal’s environmental dimensions are clear, and has targets on the universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene for all; improving water quality and water-use efficiency; implementing integrated water resource management; protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems; fostering international cooperation, and involving local communities in water and sanitation management.

During our chat, we talked about water being fundamental to all aspects of life and what life can be like for communities without access to these basic needs. We then explored integrated water resource management (IWRM), which Binaya argued is a natural starting point for implementing all the SDGs.

Related links

• UNDESA’s SDG6 Page
• Recent work on integrated river basin management (a form of integrated water resource management)
• Binaya’s recent publication on Tonle Sap Lake
• IGES publications relevant to SDG6

About our guest:

Binaya Raj Shivakoti is a Senior Policy Researcher in the Adaptation and Water team at IGES. His expertise includes, among others, local disaster risk management and planning, promotion of traditional/indigenous and local knowledge, wastewater management, and integrated implementation of the SDGs using river basin approaches.

"About Sustainability..." is a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental policy think-tank based in Hayama, Japan. IGES experts are concerned with environmental and sustainability challenges. Everything shared on the podcast will be off-the-cuff discussion, and any viewpoints expressed are those held by the speaker at the time of recording. They are not necessarily official IGES positions.

In this episode of About Sustainability..., Andre and Erin spoke with their colleague, Maiko Morishita, about SDG5, on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. Maiko is part of the IGES finance task force, which covers a variety of topics but she also previously worked in the NGO world where gender was a key component of her work. We started by asking Maiko why she thinks this goal is important. We then proceeded through a winding conversation that touches on various aspects of SDG5, albeit not all aspects of this diverse goal. The idea was to explore this SDG and really dig into some of the ideas behind it. So we hope it provides a bit of depth and a bit of breadth, and hopefully some fresh perspectives. 

Related links

• UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Goal 5 Page
• Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)’s 2022 Sustainable Development Report

About our guest:

After working at a foreign investment bank, Maiko Morishita was involved in a development education program for an NGO involved in international exchange. Since 2010, Oxfam Japan has conducted research and proposals on climate change (adaptation finance), food issues (support for small farmers, land rights), development finance (ODA, environmental and social considerations, public-private partnerships), business and human rights, etc. In February 2019, Maiko joined the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). She graduated from Keio University’s Faculty of Law.

"About Sustainability..." is a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental policy think-tank based in Hayama, Japan. IGES experts are concerned with environmental and sustainability challenges. Everything shared on the podcast will be off-the-cuff discussion, and any viewpoints expressed are those held by the speaker at the time of recording. They are not necessarily official IGES positions.

In this episode of About Sustainability…

In episode 2 of the Sustainability Afoot series, Bob took a walk with Dr. Bijon Kumer Mitra to find out what Regional/Local CES (Regional or Local Circulating and Ecological Spheres) is.   In brief, CES is an approach supported by the Government of Japan that is focused on bottom-up policy development that seeks to simultaneously address local or regional Economic, Environmental, and Societal issues in an integrated and sustainable way.

Relevant links:

• IGES’ CES Publications
• The Japanese Government’s 5th Basic Environment Plan

About our Guest:

Bijon Kumer MITRA is a Deputy Director of the Integrated Center for Sustainability and Water and Adaptation Unit of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies in Japan. He has more than 17 years of experience in the field of integrated natural resource management with a focus on sustainable water resource management. He uses a quantitative assessment framework to assess natural resource allocation trade-offs, aiming to provide guidance for optimal decision-making. His research interests include water-energy-food-climate nexus, water environment management, and rural-urban linkages. He leads the Circulating and Ecological Sphere (CES) projects at IGES. Mitra holds a Ph.D. degree in the Science of Biotic Environment from Iwate University, Japan.

"About Sustainability..." is a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental policy think-tank based in Hayama, Japan. IGES experts are concerned with environmental and sustainability challenges. Everything shared on the podcast will be off-the-cuff discussion, and any viewpoints expressed are those held by the speaker at the time of recording. They are not necessarily official IGES positions.

In this episode of About Sustainability…

Erin and Simon caught up with Andre just before his trip to Montreal, Canada for the second part of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15). A few things have changed since the release of our CBD episode back in March. CBD COP15 will now be convened from the 7th to the 19th of December 2022 in Montreal, Canada under the Chinese COP15 presidency.

After a two-year delay, Parties will finally come together to negotiate and agree on the text of the post-2020 global biodiversity framework (or GBF). We explored some of the highlights and interesting aspects of the GBF, including the “30by30” target, other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), and digital sequence information.

Relevant links:

• IGES’ Special Webpage on CBD COP15
• About Sustainability… episode on the CBD
• Preparations for the post-2020 GBF

"About Sustainability..." is a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental policy think-tank based in Hayama, Japan. IGES experts are concerned with environmental and sustainability challenges. Everything shared on the podcast will be off-the-cuff discussion, and any viewpoints expressed are those held by the speaker at the time of recording. They are not necessarily official IGES positions.

In this episode of About Sustainability…

Bob kicked off a new experimental format, tentatively called “Sustainability Afoot”.  The concept is simple: go for a walk near the headquarters of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) in Hayama, Japan, and discuss some basic questions about a topic, concept, or methodology that IGES works in. The first episode of this format is about the concept of the “circular economy.”  Yasuhiko Hotta, Programme Director of the Sustainable Consumption and Production unit at IGES, explained the circular economy concept, gave a few examples, and talked about some of IGES’ work on the topic.  This naturally led to marine plastic litter, and the ongoing work of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution that came out of UNEA 5.2 (the second part of the 5th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly), a conference that we discussed on this podcast  before and after it happened.

The sound quality of this format will not match that of  our regular episodes.  We’ll try to get better at recording these types of episodes, but the audio will never be as clean. Whether  we should do more episodes like this, or the sound quality will make you stop listening, we want to know.  Please tweet us at @IGES_EN to let us know what you think!

About our guest:

Yasuhiko Hotta is Programme Director of the Sustainable Consumption and Production unit at IGES. His expertise includes 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) policies, sustainable resource management, extended producer responsibility (EPR), the circular economy, and plastics. 

"About Sustainability..." is a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), an environmental policy think-tank based in Hayama, Japan. IGES experts are concerned with environmental and sustainability challenges. Everything shared on the podcast will be off-the-cuff discussion, and any viewpoints expressed are those held by the speaker at the time of recording. They are not necessarily official IGES positions.