Multilateral consensus decision making: How Pacific island states build and reach consensus in climate change negotiations

Abstract

For over two decades, Pacific island states have been active participants in multilateral climate change negotiations. Yet little is known about how these small states perform inside multi party negotiations, far less their contribution in building and reaching a consensus. This thesis investigates the behaviour of fourteen Pacific island states, by examining their negotiators and their activities in international, regional and global negotiation processes. It uses global talanoa to trace their work in the making of the UN climate change Paris Agreement in 2015, by detailing the complexity of the structures, issues, actors, politics and decision making processes inside various multilateral forums: the Ad Hoc Durban Platform (ADP), Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF), Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and the twenty first Conference of the Parties (COP21). Beyond the structural conditions (rules, formula, procedures, the Chair) and incremental stages of negotiations, this thesis finds there is a small core group of individuals in each forum that condition and precipitate the building and reaching multilateral climate change consensus. Underpinning the work of the core group of Pacific leaders and technical negotiators is their resilience and their success in conducting cordial exchange of ideas, interests and building trust and respectful relationships in the coalitions they belong to, and amongst other parties in the negotiations.