Climate Change and Regionalism in the Pacific Islands
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegoai’s words at the Pacific Climate Change Conference in late October 2020 that “climate change respects no borders” served as a powerful reminder that climate change continues to pose an existential threat, regardless of the global pandemic. Already bearing the brunt of severe weather phenomena and rising sea level, the Pacific Island states have not only been vocal internationally but have been at the forefront of establishing regional mechanisms to address an issue that none of the low-lying atoll nations can address themselves. Against this backdrop, this webinar will shed light on existing regional diplomatic frameworks, ongoing transnational mitigation projects as well as highlight legal obstacles and perspectives on advocating for climate change regionally. It will also address potential drawbacks to regional cooperation as foreign policy priorities among the islands shift and will look at the road ahead.
We are honored to have four distinguished experts join us for a discussion on the topic ‘Climate Change and Regionalism in the Pacific Islands’: Dr. George Carter is a Research Fellow at the Department of Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, Dr. Wesley Morgan is an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, Dr. Joanna Siekiera is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Faculty of Law, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway and a legal advisor to the Bergen Pacific Studies Research Group, and Dr. Marc Lanteigne, Associate Professor of Political Science at UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
The panel discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A and the event will be moderated by Larissa Stünkel, Junior Research Fellow at ISDP’s Stockholm China Center.