Given the rate of climate change and its increasingly frequent, extreme, and variable impacts, Sm... more Given the rate of climate change and its increasingly frequent, extreme, and variable impacts, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face the urgent need to achieve climate resilience, a process in which regional organisations can play a critical role. Research on cooperation among SIDS on climate change is limited and cross-regional studies on this phenomenon are almost non-existent. This thesis thus aims to fill this gap by comparing regional climate governance among South-West Indian Ocean and Pacific SIDS through the key regional organisations, the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). It uses document analysis, drawing mainly on the organisations’ annual reports as well as other relevant documentary sources, from 2009 to 2021. Regionalism has shaped climate governance in both SIDS regions, but to significantly varying degrees; overall, the IOC’s performance has been weaker than the PIF. This thesis argues regional identity can be a means through which cooperation can be enhanced and SIDS can strengthen their solidarity and assert greater agency against middle/major power members. It also argues that cooperation can be viewed as interest-based given the shared consequences of climate change and thus, even in the absence of a shared identity, climate change itself can serve as the basis of cooperation. The IOC and PIF are valuable platforms for such collaboration among SIDS as well as with external powers. By identifying common and unique challenges and opportunities for regional climate governance, the findings of this thesis can contribute to more effective climate action in the South-West Indian Ocean and Pacific.
Given the rate of climate change and its increasingly frequent, extreme, and variable impacts, Sm... more Given the rate of climate change and its increasingly frequent, extreme, and variable impacts, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face the urgent need to achieve climate resilience, a process in which regional organisations can play a critical role. Research on cooperation among SIDS on climate change is limited and cross-regional studies on this phenomenon are almost non-existent. This thesis thus aims to fill this gap by comparing regional climate governance among South-West Indian Ocean and Pacific SIDS through the key regional organisations, the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). It uses document analysis, drawing mainly on the organisations’ annual reports as well as other relevant documentary sources, from 2009 to 2021. Regionalism has shaped climate governance in both SIDS regions, but to significantly varying degrees; overall, the IOC’s performance has been weaker than the PIF. This thesis argues regional identity can be a means through which cooperation can be enhanced and SIDS can strengthen their solidarity and assert greater agency against middle/major power members. It also argues that cooperation can be viewed as interest-based given the shared consequences of climate change and thus, even in the absence of a shared identity, climate change itself can serve as the basis of cooperation. The IOC and PIF are valuable platforms for such collaboration among SIDS as well as with external powers. By identifying common and unique challenges and opportunities for regional climate governance, the findings of this thesis can contribute to more effective climate action in the South-West Indian Ocean and Pacific.
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Thesis Chapters by Richa Jheengun