Multilateral consensus decision making: How Pacific island states build and reach consensus in climate change negotiations
Date
2018
Authors
Carter, George Joseph
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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.
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Pacific Islands, International Relations, Diplomacy, Negotiations, Multilateralism, Regionalism, Small States, Climate Change, Consensus Decision Making, Global Talanoa
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Thesis (PhD)
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