Diaspora-led Dialogue: Climate Change Challenges to the Cultural Identity and Sovereignty of Pacific Atoll Nations
Summary Report No.116 - October, 2021 • By Taukiei Kitara, James Bhagwan, Maina Talia, Enele Sopoaga, Anote Tong, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, Tammy Tabe, Tereeao Teingiia-Ratite, Exsley Taloiburi, Yessie Mosby, Katerina Teaiwa, Peter Emberson, Ian Fry, Susan Harris-Rimmer, Simon Kofe, and Carol Farbotko
This Policy Brief is a report on two online forums and a later conference on the topic of Climate Change Challenges to the Sovereignty of Pacific Atoll Nations. The forums were held in 2020, and hosted by the Pacific Island Council of Queensland (PICQ) in partnership with Friends of the Earth Australia (FOE). In 2021, PICQ continued the dialogue, hosting an online conference on Climate Change Challenges to the Cultural Identity and Sovereignty of Pacific Atoll Nations. This report is co-written by many prominent and expert speakers who presented at these events. It concludes with arenas for action on which cultural identity and sovereignty must be pursued, all of which are important given the complex, multi-faceted natured of climate change.
Cooperative Security, Arms Control and Disarmament Climate Change and Conflict
Protecting the Planet’s Commons: Global Commons Law
Policy Brief No.113 - August, 2021 • By Denise Garcia
This Policy Brief examines a tapestry of rules and norms which form an uncharacteristic branch of international law. This could be called global commons law, comprised of principles and norms forged by a vast mosaic of actors in shared stewardship and with a commonality of interests. Global commons law helps to sustain the absence of conflict and promotes cooperation, and partly explains the prevalence of endeavours towards cooperation. This branch of international law is unique as it does not ascribe rights and duties to states but to individuals and humanity. The state is not only a user and beneficiary, but it is also a guardian, and therefore has duties and responsibilities to ensure the preservation of these domains in which legal (sovereign) ownership is absent but which are characterised by peace instead of military confrontation.
Collaboration, Conflict and Mobility: Local Responses to Climate Change in Somaliland
Policy Brief No.108 - May, 2021 • By Mohamed Fadal and Louise Wiuff Moe
This Policy Brief shares insights generated from interviews with community members, experts and governance officials in Somaliland as part of a 2020-2021 qualitative baseline research study which looked at how local actors and institutions experience and respond to climate change impacts. Attention to these responses allows the analysis to include a focus on local strengths and point out the multifaceted nature of local responses to climate change impacts, involving conflict, collaboration and innovation. The Policy Brief concludes with a set of overall implications and suggestions for policy and further research.
Urban–Rural Re-Relocation as a Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of Tuvalu
Policy Brief No.106 - April, 2021 • By Carol Farbotko and Taukiei Kitara
This policy brief discusses customary arrangements in place in Tuvalu that provide extensive and innovative ways in which Tuvaluan people have moved to safer rural areas, both in the past and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Such peaceful urban-rural mobility is also relevant for adaptation to climate change impacts among Tuvaluan people. The authors argue that such customary practices could be prioritised in nurturing resilience in countries across the region, especially where customary links to rural areas are less strong than they are in Tuvalu.
Climate Change, Relocation and Peacebuilding in Fiji: Challenges, Debates, and Ways Forward
Summary Report No.97 - November, 2020 • By Volker Boege and Ria Shibata
Climate change induced human mobility comes with considerable risks and responsibilities. This insight was the starting point for a recently held workshop on climate-change induced migration and community relocation in the Pacific Island country of Fiji. Climate change induced relocation is a highly complex ‘wicked problem.’ This Policy Brief identifies the key challenges and focuses on the most relevant findings and insights from the workshop—i.e., the need for a holistic and integrated multi-stakeholder and multi-scalar approach with the cooperation of state, civil society and community actors, and the need for an inclusive dialogue and communication between a plurality of narratives and voices to build trust. It concludes with lessons learned and policy recommendations. (The workshop ‘Comparative Learning: Climate Change, Relocation and Peacebuilding in Fiji’ was organised by Toda Peace Institute, Conciliation Resources and Transcend Oceania on 5-6 October 2020.)