As this year’s United Nations climate change summit begins in Azerbaijan, advocates and experts from Southeast Asia are pressing for ambitious climate action with a focus on food security, community resilience, and youth-led climate diplomacy. 

Against the backdrop of a year marked by devastating climate disasters, the COP29 talks opened in Baku on Monday, with delegates from nearly 200 countries bracing for difficult negotiations on the funding needed to address the climate crisis. 

Southeast Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to climate change, facing rising sea levels, intensifying cyclones, heatwaves, and floods that affect millions in coastal, rural and densely populated areas. 

Imelda Bacudo, an expert on climate, food and agriculture, highlighted the importance of ensuring food security and promoting low-emissions practices. 

“For agriculture negotiators, it’s really ensuring the survival of the sector to be able to nourish all of us,” said Bacudo, a climate finance and engagement specialist at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and former senior advisor to the COP28 Presidency of the United Arab Emirates in 2023. 

Bacudo added that ‘farmers should be economically empowered’ and ‘well-equipped’ to benefit from transformative policies. 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has the opportunity to engage in carbon markets and leverage climate finance to support these goals, particularly in adopting low-emission agricultural practices, she also said. 

Rex Victor Cruz, a watershed management and climate change expert, called for increased assistance for smallholder farmers, who make up the majority of the region’s agricultural sector. 

“They are the ones who are really vulnerable to climate change. We want to see more enabling support going to the smallholder farmers,” said the professor at the University of the Philippines Los Baños. 

Youth’s role 

At COP29, young climate advocates are taking an active role in shaping climate policy. 

Rizki Maulana Rachman, an Indonesia climate change negotiation analyst, stressed that youth advocates can harness social media to raise awareness, mobilize communities, and hold governments accountable. 

“This is the time for youth to gather ourselves and connect with each other so we can voice the youth voices and intergenerational voices to be included in the process of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),” Rachman said. 

Rexor Amancio, who was also part of the COP28 Presidency, highlighted that building strong relationships with policymakers enables young activists to ‘have productive conversations’ on climate priorities, giving them a stake in Southeast Asia’s climate agenda. 

Amancio noted that beyond UNFCCC, young advocates can also work with local leaders. 

“One way of really influencing decisions is to have a very good relationship with those who are pen holders of policies. If you have a good relationship with them, you’d be able to know more about what’s the next steps and you can strategize how you can help,” Amancio added. 

Amancio is the co-founder of the Institute for Youth in Climate Diplomacy (IYCD) with climate activist Marinel Ubaldo. IYCD is a global youth-led organization focused on empowering Southeast Asian youth to influence impactful climate policies.