Abstract: Maritime security is one of the most vulnerable domains to climate change. The Quad comprising India, Japan, Australia, and the U.S., shares concerns of impending climate change-induced maritime security challenges in the Indo-Pacific region. Climate change can catalyse intensified competition for resources and control over sea lanes leading to increased maritime violence. Thus, climate change can derail the collective goals for which the Quad was established – a free, open, prosperous, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. It is therefore critical for the Quad to understand this emergent threat and how it is altering the geopolitical system in order to secure its strategic and economic interests.
This paper addresses three major issues. First, it provides an empirical understanding of the threats to maritime security in the Indo-Pacific that emerge from climate change. It shows how these challenges potentially impede the Quad’s goals of securing a free and open Indo- Pacific and a rules-based order. Secondly, the paper analyses the collective efforts the group has undertaken over the years to address climate change and maritime security in the region through its Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package (Q-CHAMP) and beyond. Thirdly, the study focuses on prospects for cooperation among the Quad countries, taking into consideration the recent change in administration in the US. We ask what collaborative maritime security mechanisms can the parties devise to strengthen the proposals in the Quad Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Package (Q-CHAMP)? We argue that cooperation on climate change will not only augment climate preparedness in the Indo-Pacific region but also enhance the Quad’s legitimacy and durability as a minilateral grouping.
Keywords: Climate change, maritime security, the Quad, Indo-Pacific
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