Sinking Islands, Drowned Logic; Climate Change and Community-Based Adaptation Discourses in Solomon Islands

Sustainability, vol. 12, pp. 7225

Abstract

The saltwater people of Solomon Islands are often portrayed to be at the frontline of climate change. In media, policy, and development discourses, the erosion and abandonment of the small, man-made islands along the coast of Malaita is attributed to climate change induced sea-level rise. This paper investigates this sinking islands narrative, and argues that a narrow focus on the projected impacts of climate change distracts attention and resources from more pressing environmental and development problems that are threatening rural livelihoods.

Authors 5

1. Jan van der Ploeg corresponding

   University of Wollongong

   Affiliation as printed

   Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, Wollongong 2522, Australia

2. Meshach Sukulu

   WorldFish

   Affiliation as printed

   WorldFish, Honiara PO Box 438, Solomon Islands

3. Hugh Govan

   University of the South Pacific

   Affiliation as printed

   School of Government, Development and International Affairs, University of the South Pacific, Suva 9072, Fiji

4. Tessa Minter Aachen Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Leiden University, 2333 AK Leiden, The Netherlands

5. Hampus Eriksson

   University of Wollongong · WorldFish

   Affiliation as printed

   Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS), University of Wollongong, Wollongong 2522, Australia

   WorldFish, Honiara PO Box 438, Solomon Islands