Climate Security and Geostrategic Competition in the Pacific

The Australian Embassy Vienna, in collaboration with the Climate Change Centre Austria (CCCA) and the Austrian-South Pacific Society (OSPG), is hosting a public lecture by Salā Dr George Carter, Head of the Department of Pacific Affairs and Director of the Pacific Institute at the Australian National University (ANU). In this lecture Dr Carter will examine how climate change is reshaping regional security through its intersection with international politics and strategic rivalry. He will explore how climate impacts – such as rising sea levels and intensified disasters – are not only humanitarian challenges but also drivers of competition, contrasting a traditional security narrative centred on great powers with a Pacific‑led, comprehensive climate‑security approach. As strategic tensions between China and the United States intensify, Dr Carter will highlight how Pacific island countries are navigating these dynamics, increasingly leveraging climate action as a tool to assert agency, protect sovereignty, and shape regional cooperation.
Dr Carter is currently spending an extended period in Europe to strengthen international exchange and engage directly with researchers and institutions working on climate, security, and Pacific affairs.
The event is open to the public and held in English.

Date: Wednesday, 27 May 2026 | 6:00–7:30 pm
Location: Climate Lab, Wien Energie Spittelau, Vienna

Registration Link: eventbrite.at/e/public-lecture-climate-security-geostrategic-competition-in-the-pacific-tickets-1989303492296?aff=oddtdtcreator

Salā Dr George Carter is the Head of the Department of Pacific Affairs, Director of the ANU Pacific Institute, and Cluster Lead on Climate Security and Indigenous and Traditional Knowledge at the Institute for Climate Change, Energy and Disaster – Senior Fellow at the Australian National University (ANU). In 2025 he was invited by the UN Secretary General to be a Leading Expert as part the of the 15-member UN Independent Expert Group on the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index. He was part of the Presidential Scientific Council for UNFCCC COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.