BERKELEY: Across the Asia–Pacific region, communities are responding to the escalating climate crisis by reorganizing their social, economic, and environmental systems away from fossil fuel dependence and toward equitable, reparative, and regenerative futures. 

That's according to new research from the Othering & Belonging Institute (OBI) at UC Berkeley which conducted a survey and analysis of the work of climate, agri-food, and environmental organizations based in the roughly 60 countries and territories that comprise the Asia-Pacific region.

The report published today, titled, "Asia–Pacific Just Transitions: Assessing the Activities, Strategies, and Needs of Asia–Pacific Climate, Agri-food, and Environmental Organizations," offers a detailed, subregion-by-subregion breakdown of how nearly 800 organizations across the region are confronting climate impacts shaped by histories of colonial extraction, labor exploitation, and uneven development. 

As the global race toward decarbonization and “green growth” accelerates, Asia–Pacific peoples face the intensification of climate impacts and the reconfiguration of extractive economies under new forms of climate colonialism. It is in this context that the report reveals that while many organizations do not explicitly use “Just Transition” terminology, their principles and strategies align closely with the model of transitioning from extractive to regenerative economies.

It found differences in some approaches based on subregion:  In South and Southeast Asia, organizations frame transitions through agrarian justice and food sovereignty. East and West Asian groups emphasize climate justice and rights-based approaches. Central Asia and Oceania highlight sustainable development, adaptation, and resilience, with Pacific organizations foregrounding Indigenous stewardship and territorial protection. Across these differences, the study finds a shared commitment to shifting from extractive systems to regenerative, community-defined futures.

The study also identifies a set of demands for Global North institutions to provide unrestricted, long-term funding and support for local, community-based initiatives, supporting robust partnerships, and dismantling inequitable structures rooted in debt and extraction that perpetuate social and environmental harms.

The release of this report comes just ahead of International Migration Day on December 18, a reminder that climate disruption is already reshaping patterns of human mobility across the Asia-Pacific region. As communities navigate displacement, planned relocation, and the search for dignified, secure futures, the findings underscore the urgent need for equitable climate action that centers the rights, agency, and self-determination of affected peoples. 

This report is the second in a series of studies looking at how different regions are responding to the climate crisis. It comes two-and-half years after OBI's Global Justice Program published a similar analysis of African climate, agri-food, and environmental organizations. Future studies on the topic may look at Latin America and Europe.

Media Contact 
Marc Abizeid 
marcabizeid@berkeley.edu