Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

The paper will examine how Global North and Global South actors construct and maintain narratives to advance climate agendas during global climate negotiations. The research employes a narrative analysis by analyzing official documents, speeches, and discourse of North-South discursive divides.

Paper long abstract

This paper aims to summarize the debates and discussions in recent literature on social movements and activism for climate justice in the Global South, focusing on North-South discursive divides that fundamentally shape global climate negotiations. Climate negotiations continue to be shaped by equity concerns between developed countries in the Global North and emerging economies in the Global South, yet these structural tensions manifest not only in policy outcomes but in competing narrative frameworks. The research seeks to answer the following question: how the discursive divides between Global North and South contribute to or interfere with global climate change negotiations? The paper fills a knowledge gap by highlighting how different actors construct and maintain narratives, while uncovering North-South dynamics that operate through discursive mechanisms. This research employs narrative analysis to examine discursive battles on climate agendas, including but not limited to, climate finance, loss and damage, and climate justice. By analyzing official documents, speeches, and high-level discourse across recent UNFCCC COPs, this research reveals how narrative power determines whose climate futures matter in an increasingly multipolar world order. While Global North narratives tend to emphasize finance mechanisms, technological solutions, and procedural equity, Global South movements articulate counter-narratives centered on developmental priorities, historical responsibility, and livelihood protection. These competing narratives shape not only international negotiations but public perception and policy priorities. Thus, the research will provide systematic evidence of how North-South discursive divides manifest across different actors and geographies and contribute to a new analytical framework.