As the impacts of climate change become increasingly visible on the global scale, long-term viability of current development plans for many developing countries will require re-thinking and new policy approaches. The countries of the Asia Pacific are among the world’s most vulnerable to climate change impacts due to long coastlines, high population concentration in coastal regions, and high dependency on agriculture in many developing countries. Growing population, swift economic growth, and ongoing migration and urbanization already place significant pressures on policymakers striving to meet their societies’ rising food, water, and energy needs. Balancing between environmental protection and economic development is both a challenge for policy-makers in these countries and an opportunity for collaboration with developed countries, particularly the United States, on issues of sustainable development, resilience and adaptation to climate change, and renewable energy.
 
USAID Assistant Administrator for Asia Jonathan Stivers discussed the challenges that climate change and environmental protection pose for developing countries in Asia and the cooperative and leadership opportunities that it creates for the US Rebalance. Stimson’s Brian Eyler provided regional context and moderated questions.

What: A discussion with USAID Assistant Administrator for Asia Jonathan Stivers on the challenges and opportunities that climate change and environmental protection pose for developing countries in Asia and the US rebalance to the region. 
 
Featuring:
Jonathan Stivers, USAID Assistant Administrator for Asia
Brian Eyler, Deputy Director of the Southeast Asia Program at The Stimson Center