This book analyses the regional complexes of climate security in the Pacific. Pacific Island States and Territories (PICTs) have long been cast as the frontline of climate change and placed within the grand architecture of global climate governance. The region provides compelling new insights into the ways climate change is constructed, governed, and shaped by (and in turn shapes), regional and global climate politics. By focusing on climate security as it is constructed in the Pacific and how this concept mobilises resources and shapes the implementation of climate finance, the book provides an up-to-date account of the way regional organizations in the Pacific have contributed to the search for solutions to the problem of climate insecurity. In the context of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris in 2015, the focus of this book on regional governance offers a concise and innovative account of climate politics in the prevailing global context and one with implications for the study of climate security in other regions, particularly in the developing world.

Small islands have received growing attention in the context of climate change. Rising sea-levels, intensifying storms, changing rainfall patterns and increasing temperatures force islanders to deal with and adapt to a changing climate. How do they respond to the challenge? What works, what doesn’t – and why? The present volume addresses these questions by exploring adaptation experiences in small islands across the world’s oceans from various perspectives and disciplines, including geography, anthropology, political science, psychology, and philosophy. The contributions to the volume focus on political and financial difficulties of climate change governance; highlight the importance of cultural values, local knowledge and perceptions in and for adaptation; and question to what extent mobility and migration constitute sustainable adaptation. Overall, the contributions highlight the diversity of island contexts, but also their specific challenges; they present valuable lessons for both adaptation success and failure, and emphasise island resilience and agency in the face of climate change.

This volume examines environmental law and governance in the Pacific, focusing on the emerging challenges this region faces. The Pacific is home to some of the world’s most astonishing biological and cultural diversity. At the same time, Pacific Island nations are economically and technically under-resourced in the face of tremendous environmental challenges. Destructive weather events, ocean acidification, mining, logging, overfishing, and pollution increasingly degrade ecosystems and affect fishing, farming, and other cultural practices of Pacific Islanders. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to understand and analyse the role of law and governance in responding to these pressures in the Pacific. Drawing on academic and practitioner expertise from the Pacific region, as well as Europe and the United States, this unique collection navigates the major environmental law and governance challenges of the present and future of the Pacific. Environmental Law and Governance in the Pacific discusses 21 Pacific Island countries and territories, including Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Samoa, and a broad range of themes, such as deep-sea mining, wetlands and mangroves, heritage, endangered species, human rights, and access to justice, are addressed, thus providing a comprehensive and state-of-the-art overview of environmental law and governance within specific jurisdictions as well as across the Pacific region as a whole. This volume will be essential reading for students and scholars interested in environmental law and governance in the Pacific region, as well as policy-makers, practitioners and NGOs involved in the development and implementation of environmental law and policy.

This book examines questions about the changing nature of security and insecurity in Pacific Island Countries (PICs). Previous discussions of security in the Pacific region have been largely determined by the geopolitical interests of the Global North. This volume instead attempts to centre PICs’ security interests by focussing on the role of organisational culture, power dynamics and gender in (in)security processes and outcomes. Mapping Security in the Pacific underscores the multidimensional nature of security, its relationship to local, international, organisational and cultural dynamics, the resistances engendered through various forms of insecurities, and innovative efforts to negotiate gender, context and organisational culture in reducing insecurity and enhancing justice. Covering the Pacific region widely, the volume brings forth context-specific analyses at micro-, meso- and macro-levels, allowing us to examine the interconnections between security, crime and justice, and point to the issues raised for crime and justice studies by environmental insecurity. In doing so, it opens up opportunities to rethink scholarly and policy frames related to security/insecurity about the Pacific. Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars in criminology, sociology, cultural studies, social theory and those interested in learning about the Pacific region and different aspects of security.

This report highlightes outcomes and recommendations provided during the FAO regional expert workshop “Enhancing national climate actions to reduce methane emissions in livestock systems in Asia and the Pacific”. The regional workshop was designed to help countries in Asia and the Pacific identify new opportunities to reduce methane emissions from livestock systems in the region. The report illustrates best practices, solutions and ideas shared by countries and livestock stakeholders in Asia and the Pacific to achieve ambitious climate targets.

“Australia’s climate and energy policy is a ‘toxic time bomb’ . . . Now Morrison, feeling the heat from Australia’s allies, from growing numbers in the business community and from a majority of voters, needs to work out how he will handle that bomb.” MARIAN WILKINSON The twelfth issue of Australian Foreign Affairs examines the growing pressure on Australia as global and regional powers adopt tough measures to combat climate change. Feeling the Heat looks at the consequences of splitting from the international consensus, and at how a climate pivot by Canberra could unlock new diplomatic and economic opportunities. Marian Wilkinson probes how Canberra is responding to international pressure on climate and asks if we are at a political tipping point. Wesley Morgan warns that Australia’s climate policy is undermining our Pacific relationships and proposes a path for rebuilding trust. Richard Denniss and Allan Behm expose Australia’s efforts to obstruct international climate action and to support fossil fuel exports. Amanda McKenzie uncovers how Australia’s climate policy impedes its diplomacy and how to address this malaise. Anthony Bergin and Jeffrey Wall outline a solution to Australia’s dwindling business ties in the Pacific. Hugh Riminton examines the future contours of the Asian Century. Michelle Aung Thin discusses the brutal Myanmar coup and its impact on the nation. PLUS Correspondence on AFA11: The March of Autocracy from Fergus Ryan, Kevin Boreham and Yun Jiang.

On 21-22 April 2010, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) organized a social protection conference in Manila. Interest in social protection has been growing since the global financial crisis heightened awareness of the many millions of people in Asia and the Pacific who live in poverty or vulnerable situations. Thus, policy makers are now keen to develop social protection systems that can assist people to both leave and stay out of poverty. The conference brought together people from ADB, its developing member countries, partner agencies, research institutes, and civil society organizations to exchange valuable experience and information and discuss ideas on how to develop social protection and expand it for the well-being of people in Asia and the Pacific. This book features selected papers from the conference that respond to the need for integrated and inclusive social protection to improve the quality of peoples' lives and livelihoods. Specific areas emphasized are health insurance, pensions, the informal sector, measures targeting children, and measuring and monitoring social protection.

This book delves into the Australia-China relationship, which is currently at its worst since 1972, when the two countries first established a diplomatic relationship. Australia is seen by the US as its front-line ally in its fight in containing China. Derived from an international symposium organized by the editorial team and held in Adelaide, South Australia in September 2021, these essays are an attempt to offer some understanding and explanations for the deterioration of Sino-Australian ties. It is also an attempt to explore the ways by which the two countries can reach some common ground for the future. Despite our very different pasts, can we seek out a shared future together, a future that avoids a war, hot or cold, between a rising power of China and the incumbent US hegemon?

This ground-breaking volume provides analyses from experts around the globe on the part played by national and international law, through legislation and the courts, in advancing efforts to tackle climate change, and what needs to be done in the future. Published under the auspices of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), the volume builds on an event convened at BIICL, which brought together academics, legal practitioners and NGO representatives. The volume offers not only the insights from that event, but also additional materials, sollicited to offer the reader a more complete picture of how climate change litigation is evolving in a global perspective, highlighting both opportunities, and constraints.