The Himalayan region is under stress as global demand for freshwater continues to surge and countries are driven to tap into shared water resources—rivers, lakes, and watersheds—that flow across national borders. Rapidly growing populations, sharply rising economic and agricultural demands, and exacerbating climate change have greatly intensified water stress throughout a region that sustains the livelihood of billions. As transborder water resources become highly politicized, countries are prioritizing national interests over regional cooperation.

Join us on for a discussion among experts from China, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, focusing on how and why decisions about water use are made upstream, how that affects those living downstream, and what’s needed to improve the chances that Asians have access to the water they need as climate change intensifies. The panel will feature ASPI China Climate Hub Director Li Shuo, ASPI Director of South Asia Initiatives Farwa Aamer, and Assistant Director for Global Studies at Bentley University Pon Souvannaseng. The discussion will be moderated by Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society Orville Schell.

A light breakfast will be available at 8:30 a.m. ET.

This program is part of the COAL + ICE exhibition and series of programs at Asia Society, Feb. 13-Aug. 11, 2024, designed to provoke thought and action on climate change.

SPEAKERS

Farwa Aamer is the Director of South Asia Initiatives at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) in New York where she oversees the institute’s policy work and projects in South Asia. Prior to ASPI, Farwa worked at the Stimson Center where she led research on the security, political, and socio-economic dimensions of transboundary river governance in the Himalayan region. Through her work, Farwa has organized and convened high-level Track II dialogues and discussions designed to facilitate greater inter-and intra-regional cooperation on issues and opportunities concerning water, energy, climate change, and sustainable development in South Asia, MENA, and Central Asia. Farwa also worked on highlighting the disproportionate impacts of climate change and water insecurity on women. From 2017 to 2021, Farwa was with the EastWest Institute (EWI) and served as the Director of the South Asia program. At EWI, Farwa worked on promoting non-traditional channels of diplomacy and establishing multi-stakeholder platforms for shared economic, financial, and geopolitical interests by bringing together policy shapers, media influencers, thought leaders, and business experts from within South Asia and across the globe.

Li Shuo is the Incoming Director of China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI). His work focuses on analyzing China’s environmental and energy policies and supporting the international community’s engagement with China’s climate agenda. Prior to ASPI, Li Shuo has more than a decade of experience in United Nations environmental negotiations, including on climate change, biodiversity, ocean, plastic pollution, and ozone.

Pon Souvannaseng is Assistant Professor in the Global Studies Department at Bentley University. Her expertise spans the politics and finance of energy and infrastructure projects and environmental governance in the developing world, with extensive research experience in East & Southeast Asia and Africa.  Her research examines the nexus between states, business and the environment, with special attention to development, finance and climate change issues.  She is a former US Fulbright researcher in Laos, Mansfield-Luce Asia Policy Scholar (2020-2022); Wilson China Fellow (2021); and APSA Asia Fellow (2019).  Her research has been supported by Fulbright, UKRI, and Bentley Research Council grants.  She has previously worked at the UN Research Institute for Social Development and ASEAN Labour Secretariat.  A political economist by training, she holds a PhD from the London School of Economics & Political Science.

Orville Schell (moderator) is the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at Asia Society. He is a former professor and Dean at the University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism. Schell is the author of fifteen books, ten of them about China, and a contributor to numerous edited volumes, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Nation, and The New York Review of Books. His most recent book, My Old Home: A Novel of Exile was published in 2021. Schell worked for the Ford Foundation in Indonesia, covered the war in Indochina as a journalist, and has traveled widely in China since the mid-70s.