“Come Hell or High Water”: A Comparative Analysis of Policy Frames surrounding Adaptation Strategies of Climate-affected Pacific Island Countries

Abstract: While mildly disruptive to the developed world, climate change represents an existential threat to the Pacific Island Countries. Indigenous communities have been consistently recognized as especially vulnerable due to their low adaptive capacity and cultural reliance on the environment. Many critical and post-colonial theorists argue that this due to environmental colonialism. The purpose of this research was to explore how different institutional settings understood Pacific climate change adaptation. A Critical Frame Analysis of the UNDP’s Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Programme and the Pacific Forum Leaders’ Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change revealed significant differences in how Pacific-based and global institutions view climate change adaptation. Analyzed through Critical Social Constructivism, the main findings were that the two documents were similar in framing focus, but, when the PACC preserved the status-quo, the PIFACC made small, but important strides in promoting climate justice through paths to alternative development structures.