Thank you very much, Mr. Guilbeault.
Climate change is going to affect different parts of the Indo-Pacific differently.
If we look at the South China Sea area, the Mekong delta will probably be salinized. This will affect the food security of Southeast Asia—Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. It's hard to imagine this not cascading into a refugee crisis or instability.
When we think about Canada's investment in a place like the South China Sea and dealing with climate change, of course there's a global approach, but we ultimately have to work with partners on the ground to try to deal with the challenges they're facing domestically. This is not necessarily a big expenditure. It could be something as simple as education. It could be as simple as NGOs helping the local communities deal with local environmental problems. I think there are many different levels.
If we go to the Pacific Islands, these countries may not be around in 20 or 30 years. Of course, it will affect these people, but it will also affect how the United Nations works. These countries will disappear. How will they be affected? How will they be susceptible to corruption? As Ms. Paskal mentioned, their lives are on the line, and this will make them susceptible.
As we think about climate change, it's not as simple as thinking about it in terms of dealing with carbon. We must think about how we can change what's happening on the ground in these communities to prevent climate change from really damaging these countries and perhaps making them disappear.
There are a lot of things that Canada can do. Ultimately, if we are damaging our economy for the sake of climate change, that is probably an ill-considered strategy. We need to take the right balance, and everything is the right balance. How can we be prosperous, but how can we also deal with climate change in the short, mid and long term?
Thank you for the really thoughtful question.