Pragmatic discourses and alternative resistance: responses to climate change in the Pacific

Abstract

This paper explores the portrayals of climate change by United Nations diplomats, ambassadors and representatives from intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Counter discourses are also revealed through interviews conducted with ambassadors representing small Pacific states at the United Nations. Among the literatures that posit climate change is occurring, there has been a broad consensus that the impacts of climate change threaten the long‐term capacity for people to continue living in small island states such as Tuvalu or Kiribati.1 Pacific island states are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change as their fresh water reserves are limited to a shallow subsurface lens which is susceptible to depletion in drought and contamination from salt water. Further, the height of these atoll states above sea‐level rarely exceeds two metres, which makes them highly susceptible to wave damage. The ecological balance of these systems is in threat even due to minor alterations to global climate. Even by the most conservative estimates of climate change, major alterations in the response of the hydrologic behaviour of these islands will ensue.2