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Stormy weather ahead, and ASEAN has no choice but to adapt
The grouping must put its plans and defences in place to deal with the impacts of climate change.
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A flood-affected village in Aceh, Indonesia, on Dec 2. Storms and floods in 2025 may have caused US$3.4 billion in economic damage for Indonesia.
PHOTO: EPA
Simon Tay and Aaron Choo
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Severe storms and intense flooding have hit our region. Across Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and states in Malaysia and southern Thailand, streets and many homes are now underwater, with many thousands displaced. National governments must respond urgently and effectively to these situations of human tragedy, or risk public outrage.
Yet, while the horror of the disaster is immediate, the tragic situation also connects to what might otherwise seem faraway concerns for the future. They bring into focus the COP30 international climate meeting recently concluded on the other side of the planet, in Belem, Brazil. The dangers of climate impacts are real and present, and point to a future in which natural disasters can be worse and more frequent.
