Experience the Highest impacts of Climate Change
According to a recent analysis, the Asia-Pacific region is home to twice as many people who live in places with high vulnerability to climate change dangers as all other regions combined. Nearly a billion people worldwide are exposed to these risks.
Key points:
- Australia’s climate is at risk from cyclones, sea level rise, drought, and desertification.
- For the first time in five years, there was an improvement in the economic effects of world peace and conflict.
- South Asia still has the second-lowest GPI rank despite some improvements.
The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) reported in its annual Global Peace Index, which was released on Wednesday, that an estimated 971 million people, including more than 2.4 million Australians, reside in regions that are highly or extremely vulnerable to climate hazards like cyclones, floods, bushfires, desertification, and rising sea levels.
Asia-based countries made up the top nine countries with the highest risk of climate hazards, with the Philippines at the top of the list, followed by Japan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, and Bangladesh.
According to IEP founder and executive chairman Steve Killelea, several of the Asia-Pacific nations also have less robust natural disaster preparedness levels.
Rising sea levels would have a significant impact on the Pacific islands, according to Mr. Killelia, who said that due to their proximity to the equator, they will be the first to be impacted.
According to him, Australia is most at risk from cyclones and hurricanes in the north, rising sea levels in the south and east, drought, and desertification, which is already having an impact on thousands of farmers.
Climate-related risks make migration and conflict worse
For the first time this year, climate change threats were considered in the report, which rates 163 nations by evaluating domestic safety and security, militarization, and continuing war. This was done to assess the relationships between climatic hazards and violence.
A time-sensitive island race
Climate change forced the first population relocations in the world, and it was predicted that the Carteret Islands would be flooded.
It was discovered that climate pressures can have a negative impact on the availability of resources and population dynamics, which can have an impact on socioeconomic and political stability.
According to Mr. Killelea, “you start to get significant flows of migrants when you start to get massive repercussions from climate change,” adding that this migration might exacerbate instability and the effect of terrorism on host countries.
Mr. Killelea cited a number of nations where climate change has either contributed to or exacerbated violent conflict, including Nigeria, where resource shortages have caused conflict due to desertification, Haiti following numerous hurricanes and earthquakes, and South Sudan, where tensions have increased due to Lake Chad’s drying.
Over 60% of all global displacements in 2017 were triggered by climate-related calamities, whereas just about 40% were brought on by armed conflict.
More than 265 million people have been internally displaced since 2008, with the Asia-Pacific area being the most severely affected, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.
Australia could be severely impacted by climate-induced migration because it is in a region that is at the greatest danger.
Australian farmers have started moving south in search of greener pastures as droughts and desertification ravage the country’s northern regions.
The state of world peace has improved for the first time in five years.
Overall, the survey found that although the globe is still less peaceful than it was ten years ago, it has improved for the first time in five years and that the economic costs of violence have decreased.
This year saw a global decline in military spending, violent protests, and violent crime, especially in Asia.
Over the past ten years, the US and China have continued to dramatically grow their military spending, while the percentage of GDP spent on defence declined in two out of every three nations.
“Even though there is more peace…
A more thorough review reveals a combination of favourable and unfavourable tendencies,” Mr. Killelea added.
“New hostilities have erupted as the wars that have dominated the past decade, such as those in Iraq and Syria, have started to abate.”
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After the defeat of the Islamic State, Afghanistan took over as the nation with the least amount of peace from Syria. Iraq also made a slight improvement, but Yemen entered the bottom five for the first time.
The Asia-Pacific area saw an improvement in peace of 3%, but there were also more refugees, acts of terrorism, and internal conflicts there.
Due to an increase in militarization, including weapons imports, military spending, and nuclear and heavy weaponry, Australia dropped one spot on the index to rank 13th. The country’s incarceration rate also increased.
Given government policies, it is more likely that military spending and incarceration will rise.
Australia may move down one or two spots in the coming years, according to Mr. Killelea.
“However, by international standards, Australia is a remarkably peaceful nation.”
Despite a terrorist attack in March that claimed 51 lives at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand continued to hold the title of second-least violent nation in the world.
