Paper short abstract:

How has Europe responded to the plight of Pacific island states and what influences these responses? The paternalistic attitudes of European leaders are reflective of both a (post)colonial mindset as well as the projection of fears of their own loss of agency in the face of climate change.

Paper long abstract:

There is scientific consensus that climate change poses severe social and economic risks and that these risks - and the ability to adapt/mitigate to them - are not evenly distributed geographically. Low-lying states such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific are particularly vulnerable to climate catastrophe. There remains, however, a dichotomy between how risks are framed by the Global North and how SIDS would see them framed. Using insights from French pragmatic sociology, we show how the European positioning of itself as expert (or saviour) clashes with the moral-political right of SIDS to articulate their own plight.

In this article we analyse a number of specific European responses to climate change risks in the Pacific to see how risk is framed and the narratives that are prevalent. These include institutional programmes, such as the Global Climate Change Alliance+, as well as public and policy statements issued by European and Pacific leaders. In particular, we look at countries with strong historical, cultural and economic relations with the Pacific region or which have been particularly active in this topic.

We show that a key issue in the relationship between Europe and the SIDS is that of agency, with European attitudes characterised by paternalism while the SIDS seek to reject the label of victim imposed on them. This can be understood within the context of (post)colonial relationships but should also be seen as reflective of Europe's own fears regarding the loss of agency climate catastrophe implies.