Conceptualizing Regional Environmental Integration Countering Vulnerability To Climate Change: A Case Study Of Carec Member Countries

Abstract

The twenty-first century is marked by a myriad of nascent phenomena in which Climate Change qualifies to be on the top. The academic discourse on the environment had penetrated the national security conceptualization during the Cold War. The actual transformation triggered in the aftermath of the Post-Cold War era in the ake of vivid manifestations of Climate Change. The conceptualization of security, development and economic integration-initiated tilting more towards regional solutions right at the peak of globalization in the backdrop of a post-structural paradigm departing from the modernist and positivist approaches. Similarly, climate and environment became foremost issues implicating the structural foundations of states. The most plausible instance is Pakistan which has been among the top ten most vulnerable to Climate Change countries, yet the devastating floods of 2022 established its position to be the victim of global ignorance of the catastrophe. The devastating floods of 2010 inundated one-fifth of the country costing about USD 10 billion which exacerbated to USD 30 billion approximately, while one-third of the country was submerged in 2022. The issue of Climate Change cannot be subjected to a single country yet it is a global phenomenon with the nature, scope, and extent of this phenomenon are trans-boundary, requiring an overarching response. The world is already late in responding to the human-induced devastation of nature. The issue of environmental devastation is affecting every sector and every country at varied scales. As regionalism elevates to be the solution to economic, energy, security, and power balancing and development woes the environmental integration of regions to streamline environmental regulations, legislations, and actions can have a considerable impact for the region and beyond, as the European Community developed and later carried forward by European Union. One of the leading benefits of regional economic integration is to distribute the benefits of development to developing partners in the region which can be a stimulating factor in environmental cooperation also. The CAREC member countries accounting for a considerable global economic pie, energy resources, water, agriculture, industry and population can have a viable regional structure for the environment. This study aims at conceptualizing and exploring the viability of regional environmental integration of CAREC member states to meet the global challenge and protect natural resources. In the midst of these complex scenarios impacting SDGs performance, a focus on prevention and investments on environmental resilience economic models need to be improved to work together to strengthen resilience in the region. How can the regional countries, in coordination with the global community, support poor countries in their efforts to address the crises facing the development.