Environmental Change, Vulnerability, and Governance

Many areas in the Asia Pacific region are experiencing rapid social, economic, and environmental change. Industrialization, urbanization, economic growth, and population change—together with loss of biodiversity, modifications to coastal areas and tropical rainforests, and the effects of global climate change—all these developments make the region a “hot spot” from the perspective of global change and sustainable development.

Environmental research at the East-West Center focuses on critical interactions between the environment and human society and promotes strong links between science and policy. The three priorities are:

• Research to develop and share new insights to support decision-making
• Dialogue to encourage shared learning and joint problem-solving
• Education and training to enhance the cadre of scientists and decision-makers informed about critical issues in the region

Center scholars seek to develop regional communities of scientists, policymakers in the public and private sectors, resource managers, and community members. The goal is to conduct relevant scientific research and translate the results into useful information for regional, national, and local policymakers and communities. Within this framework, individual projects focus on current issues of regional significance, illuminate critical gaps in scientific understanding, and explore innovative approaches to establishing effective partnerships within the Asia Pacific community that will sustain both people and the environment.

Current research projects include:

• Helping Pacific Island Communities Respond to Climate Change: Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) program
• Modernization and Emerging Infectious Diseases: The Case of Bird Flu in Vietnam
• Environmental Impact of Expanding Rubber Cultivation in the Mountain Areas of Southeast Asia
• Cities at Risk: Building Institutional Capacity for Adaptation to Climate Change in Asian Coastal Cities
• Environment, Health, and Governance Challenges of Urban Sprawl in in India and Pakistan
• Community Management of Protected Wetlands and Forests in Bangladesh
• Building Capacity for Community-Based Resource Management in Kachin State, Burma (Myanmar)
• Improving Air Quality Management for the Poor in Asia
• Energy and Resource Policies for Sustainable Growth
• Energy and Environmental Policy in China
• Pacific Basin Consortium

The Pacific Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment Program (www.PacificRISA.org) supports integrated research across the social and physical sciences to expand the options of decision-makers facing climate variability and change. Pacific RISA is one of 11 programs in the United States funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The team at the East-West Center has taken a lead role in the production of the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment (PIRCA), bringing together almost 100 scientific experts and practitioners to generate an integrated report that can be used by communities to create more sustainable and environmentally sound plans in multiple spheres.

Center scholars conduct collaborative research on economic development and environmental change in South and Southeast Asia. This work links social-science data collected at household and community levels with remotely sensed and other spatial data to study both the driving forces behind land-use change and the impact on forest cover, agrarian transitions, urbanization, new and re-emerging diseases, and other variables. One project investigates the influence of development on emerging infectious diseases, looking specifically at avian influence in Vietnam. A second project looks at the expansion of rubber cultivation in the uplands of Cambodia, Laos, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Vietnam, and China's Yunnan Province and analyzes the impact on water, biodiversity, and carbon sequestration.

Other environmental research focuses on the problems of unplanned urban growth around Asia's largest cities. One project addresses the growing challenges that Asia's large coastal cities face as a result of climate change, and another compares urban environmental issues in India and Pakistan. Projects are also in progress to help plan and initiate community-based resource management in Bangladesh and Burma (Myanmar).

Publications on the environment by East-West Center scholars

Selected books, reports, and other documents are listed in the Publications section of the Center's website, with an emphasis on recent titles. In addition, over the years, researchers at the Center have produced a great deal of work for outside publishers. Listed here are East-West Center publications plus journal articles, books, book chapters, and reports written by East-West Center scholars and published by organizations around the world.

Research staff

Jefferson M. Fox, Senior Fellow
Melissa L. Finucane, Senior Fellow
Roland Fuchs, Adjunct Senior Fellow
Victoria Keener, Fellow
Kem Lowry, Adjunct Senior Fellow
Gerald Marten, Adjunct Senior Fellow
Mark Poffenberger, Adjunct Fellow
Terry Rambo, Adjunct Senior Fellow
Sumeet Saksena, Fellow
Toufiq Siddiqi, Adjunct Senior Fellow
Pushpathavi Thambipillai, Adjunct Fellow
ZhongXiang Zhang, Adjunct Senior Fellow
Miguel Castrence, Spatial Information Technology Specialist