Climate Change and Risk in South and Southeast Asia

"The multiple impacts of climate change – from more intense and frequent hurricanes to droughts and changing migration patterns – are all too obvious to our world. This book, focused on South and Southeast Asia, examines the risks from our warming planet along with the various factors that shape political, technical, and social responses to these threats. Using a variety of methods and drawing from many disciplines, this book illuminates the disproportionate effect of climate change on vulnerable populations and how socio-political frameworks influence decision making on government response to the threat. An important addition to the growing body of literature on this critical topic."

–Daniel Aldrich, Author of Building Resilience and Black Wave (Director, Security and Resilience Studies Program; Professor, Political Science and Public Policy, Northeastern University, Boston, USA)

"This volume seeks to invoke the critical socio-political perspectives within a regional context that help shape the challenges imposed by climate change. Such uncharted consequences will dominate natural and human landscapes and will have key geopolitical implications moving forward. Indeed, the scalar political responses across the regions. It will become crucial to help negotiate responses to such an inexorable challenge and change imposed by changing climatic regimes across South and Southeast Asia. This evidence-based volume will help navigate policies, practices, and responses across nation-states. The balance between developmental imperatives versus carbon neutrality will avoid the much-vaunted tipping point in this discourse."

–Dr. M. Satish Kumar, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland

"This edited volume focuses exactly on what is needed to understand the impacts of climate change in South and Southeast Asia – power and politics. This provocative and well-grounded text explains how vulnerable communities and nations will respond in the coming decades to forced relocation, ecosystem change, and political upheaval. It goes beyond explaining the impacts to explore practical solutions, including communication."

–Patrick Christie, Professor, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs and Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, USA

"This book is a timely and welcome contribution to the existing and fast expanding body of literature on the human and non-technical dimension of climate change. The focus falls on the challenges of and responses to climate change in the most populated region of the world, casting the spotlight on burning issues such as vulnerability, livelihoods, gender, risk, and politics in the Asian region. Contributions by a multiplicity of Asian scholars and other authors familiar with the dynamics of the region ensure that the experiences and observations of insiders are voiced. The 14 chapters make for insightful reading for anyone interested in and concerned about the inseparable interaction between climate change and human dynamics, as well as the growing complexities unleashed by this relationship."

–André Pelser, Ph.D., Professor & Research Fellow: Sociology, Faculty: The Humanities, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

"A critical read for those interested in hearing about the experiences of climate change in South and Southeast Asia from scholars with deep knowledge of the place."

–Divya Chandrasekhar, Ph.D., Associate Professor & PhD Program Coordinator, City & Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA