This multidisciplinary symposium explores the relationships among global change, environmental sustainability, and security in the Asia-Pacific region. It brings together expertise in science and policy to look at current understanding and the need for new knowledge to inform the development of national and regional policies for environmental security and crisis management over the next 20 years. This is a time in which demographic phenomena such as population growth, urbanization, and economic development have a potential to interact with other global trends including climate change, land degradation, air and water pollution, and the depletion of finite resources to enhance vulnerability to natural disasters and challenge the ability of nations and international organizations to plan and respond. There is a need for sound scientific knowledge on global phenomena and their potential environmental, human, and political impacts to inform national and international policy and planning for environmental security. A panel of experts from around the Pacific Rim will provide examples of current policy initiatives and characterize current and needed scientific knowledge that can help policy-makers understand emerging threats and develop national and international policies to address long-term problems of sustainable living and to better anticipate and respond to crisis events as they arise. An interactive discussion with the audience will seek to identify critical issues for research.