Seoul Defence Dialogue 2021

Mr Shafqat Munir, Head of Bangladesh Centre for Terrorism Research and Research Fellow at the Bangladesh Institute of peace and security studies (BIPSS) recently spoke at the Seoul Defence Dialogue. The Seoul Defence Dialogue is a flagship security conclave organised by the Ministry of National Defence of the Government of the Republic of Korea.

This year’s dialogue was themed ‘Borderless Security Crises and Multilateral Responses’. Mr Munir was part of a panel that discussed security threats posed by ‘Climate Change and the Military Response’. He was joined in the panel by former Chief of Defence Staff of the Netherlands, senior flag officers from France and Switzerland and other noted climate security experts from the United States and India. In his remarks, Mr Munir discussed the impacts of sea-level rise, the potentially debilitating impact of rising temperatures on military operations and other dimensions of the security implications of climate change. The session was chaired by the Deputy Minister for Climate Change of the Government of the Republic of Korea, Her Excellency Kim Hyeoun.

Analysing the security implications of Climate Change is a key area of BIPSS’ research agenda. It may be mentioned that earlier this year, Mr. Munir took part in the special virtual session of the Munich Security Conference where he highlighted the security implications of climate change especially at as it relates to Bangladesh and the South Asian region.