Pacific Island States and 30 Years of Global Climate Change Negotiations

Abstract

Small states like those of the Pacific, with limited resources and manpower, are expected to drown in the sea of complex information and multiple fast-paced global climate change negotiations. Such assumption stems from the limited understanding of how they participate and manage negotiations, including coalitions. Drawing from a methodology of process tracing of historical narratives, this chapter is complemented with textual analysis from global talanoa to trace their contributions to the UNFCCC regime. This chapter finds that Pacific states have engaged in the negotiations by establishing a core trans-regional coalition (AOSIS), balancing multiple issue-specific coalitions (LDCs, CfRN, CVF, Cartagena, and HAC), and finally evolving to establishing a region-specific coalition (Pacific SIDS). After 30 years of consistent leadership, manoeuvring, multi-actor partnerships, trust in coalitions, and an evolving regime, Pacific states have been, and will continue to be, pivotal players in global climate change negotiations.