By Lorenzo Guadagno, PAMAD Project Coordinator, Platform on Disaster Displacement Secretariat, Switzerland

Earlier this year, AIDMI and the Secretariat of the Platform on Disaster Displacement co-published an issue of Southasiadisaster.net gathering contributions by researchers and practitioners on different topics at the intersection of human mobility and climate change. The idea was to take stock of the state of relevant discussions following the UNFCCC COP29, and trace a way forward for advocacy and action in the lead-up to COP30. Southasiadisasters.net represented a uniquely valuable platform to elaborate and disseminate these analyses.

This publication provided an opportunity to bring together practitioners and researchers to produce a comprehensive research and advocacy outcome, spanning topics as diverse as displacement as loss and damage, migration as adaptation, just transition and participation of people on the move in climate change decision-making. Southeastasia.net’s focus on covering (and bridging) different policy areas, including DRR, climate change adaptation and loss and damage, humanitarian action and recovery, was key to this end. Moreover, most of the topics covered by the authors were highly time-sensitive, and the format and editorial process of Southeastasia.net were key to publishing a very timely contribution to the discussion.

Perhaps most importantly, Southasiadisasters.net’s typical contributors, audience and content have a strong rooting in the subregion’s context, priorities and challenges. This required an additional reflection for us and the authors of our issue on how to best link global policy topics and messages to concrete issues faced by communities living at the frontlines of climate change – a useful exercise to keep policy discussions and related advocacy grounded and effective. At the same time, through Southasiadisasters.net, authors were able to reach a broad audience of professionals largely working outside UNFCCC processes and in countries that have huge stakes in the progress towards mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage objectives, commitments and investments.

The importance of having publications that can promote exchanges and disseminate ideas on policy-relevant questions from the Global South cannot be understated. In a global landscape in which multilateral efforts and dialogues on humanitarian crises, development and the environment risk being weakened or fully undermined, the evidence and analyses that Southeastasia.net regularly provides are a collective reminder of the urgency of decisive action to address humanitarian needs, face the drivers of vulnerability to disasters, and sustainably reduce risks.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this piece are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of AIDMI.