The Indo-Pacific Environmental Security Partnership (Partnership) is a non-binding community of civil-military partners dedicated to enhancing environmental security cooperation and capacity in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Partnership is a progression of the Indo-Pacific Environmental Security Forum (IPESF), which has met since 2011. Over 35 countries are invited to attend the IPESF to discover solutions to regional and national environmental security threats through capacity-building projects and knowledge exchange.
In 2019, 34 countries established the Partnership Charter at the IPESF in Wellington, New Zealand.
The Partnership broadly defines environmental security as countering vulnerabilities caused by the abundance or scarcity of environmental resources and/or degradation.
Security related to water, waste, energy, food, biosecurity, climate change and other non-traditional threats fit within this definition, and can harbour greater security challenges if left unattended. The Partnership’s purpose is to enhance environmental security cooperation and capacity in the Indo-Pacific Region, while partnering and cooperating with existing regional architectures. The Partnership systematically characterizes environmental security threats and takes collective action towards sustainable solutions.
The Partnership broadly conceptualizes environmental security as safeguarding against vulnerabilities induced by the abundance or scarcity. The Working Groups implement training and capacity building activities to improve the ability of partner nations to plan for and manage environmental security challenges.
USINDOPACOM is one of six geographic Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Armed Forces.
Its area of responsibility encompasses about half the earth’s surface, stretching from the waters off the west coast of the U.S. to the western border of India, and from Antarctica to the North Pole. USINDOPACOM protects and defends, in concert with other U.S. Government agencies, the territory of the United States, its people, and its interests. With allies and partners, USINDOPACOM is committed to enhancing stability in the Indo-Pacific region by promoting security cooperation, encouraging peaceful development, responding to contingencies, deterring aggression, and, when necessary, fighting to win. This approach is based on partnership, presence, and military readiness.
USINDOPACOM’s environmental security portfolio falls under the responsibility of the Engineering Division within the J4 Logistics, Engineering and Security Cooperation Directorate. USINDOPACOM has a dedicated environmental program manager, and a team of reservists and partners that evaluate environmental security considerations; conduct the IPESF; and plan and execute environmental security activities in the Indo-Pacific region. USINDOPACOM’s environmental program manager regularly liaises with civilian and military partners to enable sustainability and resiliency.
