Climate change knows no borders: Why ASEAN must lead with unity and urgency

Climate change knows no borders: Why ASEAN must lead with unity and urgency | Daily Tribune

Every August, we mark ASEAN Month to honor the founding of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on 8 August 1967. But more than a ceremonial commemoration, ASEAN Month is a call to reflect on the challenges we face together, and how we must rise as one.

This year’s theme is ASEAN Month: Together for Progress and at its core is a recognition that the most urgent and unifying issue we face is climate change. It is no longer a distant or future threat. It is here. It is now. And it affects all of us, across borders, economies, and generations.

In the past months alone, climate and climate-related disasters have left an indelible mark throughout the region. According to the World Meteorological Organization, record-breaking heatwaves swept across Southeast Asia in April last year, with Myanmar and Thailand registering some of the highest temperatures on record. In 2024, Asia’s average temperature was approximately 1.04°C above the 1991 to 2020 baseline.

Recently, Metro Manila and other parts of the Philippines were submerged in floodwaters following record-breaking rainfall — driven by the combined effects of the southwest monsoon (habagat) and successive tropical cyclones “Crising,” “Dante” and “Emong.”

And as the climate crisis deepens, it often intersects with other vulnerabilities. In March this year, a devastating earthquake struck Myanmar, killing and injuring thousands. While earthquakes are not caused by climate change, their impact is magnified in a country already reeling from extreme weather, fragile infrastructure and prolonged conflict.

Southeast Asia sits at the frontline of this polycrisis. According to a recent ASEAN Secretariat report, our region loses an estimated $86.5 billion annually to natural hazards. This figure underscores the growing disaster financing gap, an obstacle to achieving sustainable and inclusive development.

The ASEAN response must be bold and coordinated. The ASEAN Climate Change Strategic Action Plan (ACCSAP) 2025-2030, shaped in part by the ASEAN State of Climate Change Report (ASCCR), charts a path forward. It offers a framework for integrating climate action into regional cooperation, from building resilient infrastructure and advancing low-carbon energy transitions to enhancing nature-based solutions and promoting climate-smart investments.

But the vision of ACCSAP will only succeed if matched by commitment across all levels: governments, private sector, civil society and communities. Climate change does not recognize national boundaries. Our solutions must be equally borderless, especially as shared problems require shared solutions.

This is why we must invest not just in adaptation, but in solidarity, ensuring no country or community is left behind. At the 46th ASEAN Summit, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged ASEAN partners and developed nations to scale up accessible and sufficient climate finance, especially for vulnerable developing countries facing extreme weather impacts. Climate justice in ASEAN means closing the financing gap and empowering local governments and vulnerable sectors, including women, Indigenous Peoples, small farmers, and coastal communities.

I saw these principles come to life during the ASEAN Youth in Climate Action and Disaster Resilience Conference last May in Manila. Organized by the National Youth Commission, it brought together youth, experts and policymakers from across the region. Though youth-led, the message was clear: climate change is everyone’s responsibility.

We are a region of over 680 million people, diverse in cultures, languages, and landscapes but united by geography and destiny. This ASEAN Month 2025, we must stress how climate change is the defining challenge of our time, but is also an opportunity to reimagine our progress and regional solidarity.