Climate change advocacy in the Pacific: The role of information and communication technologies
Keywords:
citizen journalism, climate change, COP21, Fiji, grassroots regionalism, ICTs, MOOCs, online activism, social media
Abstract
This article explores the phenomenon of the use of ICT for climate change activism in the Pacific. Climate change activism in the Pacific is characterised by the use of ICT tools such as social media. The article draws on semi-structured interviews and an analysis of social media sites to examine the use of social media in Pacific climate change campaigns. While other campaigns such as relating to West Papua have also been facilitated by social media, it has been generally NGO, citizen-led and varied in Pacific government support. In contrast, climate change campaigns in the Pacific are fully supported at the NGO, citizen, and state levels. Furthermore, while early Pacific ICT-based climate change campaigns used iconic images of Pacific Islanders leaving their homelands, more recent campaigns have leveraged social media to depict Pacific Islanders not as victims but as ‘warriors’. This new imagery aims to empower Pacific Islanders and engender a regional Pacific identity that shows strength and solidarity on the Pacific’s stance towards climate change.
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References
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Patel, S. (2006). ‘Islands of understanding’: Environmental journalism in the South Pacific. Pacific Journalism Review, 12(2), 148-153.
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Robie, D. (2010). Iconic media environmental images of Oceania: Challenging corporate news for solutions. Dreadlocks: Oceans, Islands and Skies, 22-47.
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Robie, D. (2017). Tanah Papua. Asia-Pacific news blind spots and citizen media: From the ‘Act of Free Choice’ betrayal to a social media revolution. Otago Foreign Policy School Monograph.
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Rupar, V. (2013). A fresh take on journalism authority. Pacific Journalism Review, 19(2), 243-245.
Singh, S. (2017). State of the media review in four Melanesian countries—Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In 2015. SSGM Discussion Paper, 2017(1).
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Tacchi, J., Horst, H., Papoutsaki, E., Thomas, V., & Eggins, J. (2013). PACMAS: Regional State of Media and Communication Report Melbourne: PACMAS/ABC International Development.
The World Bank. (2013). Acting on climate change and disaster risk for the Pacific Washington DC: World Bank.
Wéry, C. (2013). Pacific islands look for model to combat changes due to global warming. The Guardian. Retrieved August 22 2015, from www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/may/07/pacific-islands-global-warming-climate
Williams, J., Goose, S. D., & Wareham, M. (2008). Banning landmines: Disarmament, citizen diplomacy, and human security. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
350.ORG. (2013). We are not drowning. We are fighting. 350.org. Retrieved 20 February 2017, from 350pacific.org/we-are-not-drowning-we-are-fighting/
Adger, W. N., Huq, S., Brown, K., Conway, D., & Hulme, M. (2003). Adaptation to climate change in the developing world. Progress in development studies, 3(3), 179-195.
Anderson, J., & Bausch, C. (2006). Climate change and natural disasters: Scientific evidence of a possible relation between recent natural disasters and climate change. Policy Department Economic and Scientific Policy, 02(a).
Banholzer, S., Kossin, J., & Donner, S. (2014). The impact of climate change on natural disasters. In Z. Zommers & A. Singh (Eds.), Reducing disaster: Early warning systems for climate change (pp. 21-49). Netherlands: Springer.
Barnett, J. (2011). Dangerous climate change in the Pacific Islands: Food production and food security. Regional Environmental Change, 11, 229-237.
Beaumont, P., Braithwaite, R., Drewery, D., Gornitz, V., Grove, J., Haeberli, W., . . . Lorius, C. (2014). Sea level rise. IPCC: Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).
Carter, G. (2016). Establishing a Pacific voice in the climate change negotiations. In G. Fry & S. Tarte (Eds.), The new Pacific diplomacy (pp. 205-220). ACT, Australia: ANU Press.
Cave, D. (2012). Digital islands: how the Pacific's ICT revolution is transforming the region. Retrieved 9 June 2015, from www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/digital-islands-how-pacifics-ict-revolution-transforming-region
COP21 Urgent Action Hub (2015). [Call for Action].
Cronin, M. (2016, May 3). Fighting climate change with Snapchat? Meet the Pacific Islander trying it out, Online, Grist. Retrieved from grist.org/climate-energy/fighting-climate-change-with-snapchat-meet-the-pacific-islander-trying-it-out/
Duong, T. T. (2010). When islands drown: The plight of climate change refugees and recourse to international human rights law. University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, 31(4), 1239.
Finau, G., Prasad, A., Kant, R., Tarai, J. V., Logan, S., & Cox, J. (2014). Social media and e-democracy in Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Paper presented at the Americas Conference on Information Systems.
Fry, G., & Tarte, S. (2016). The ‘new Pacific diplomacy’: An introduction. In G. Fry & S. Tarte (Eds.), The new Pacific diplomacy (pp. 3-19). ACT, Australia: ANU Press.
George, N. (2011). Pacific women building peace: A regional perspective. The Contemporary Pacific, 23(1), 37-71.
Habermas, J. (2006). Political communication in media society: Does democracy still enjoy an epistemic dimension? The impact of normative theory on empirical research. Communication Theory, 16, 411-426.
Hall, E. (2015). Kiribati president pleas for aid as island country submerges. The World Today. Retrieved August 21 2015, from www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2015/s4292728.htm
Harris, U. S. (2014). Communicating climate change in the Pacific using a bottom-up approach. Pacific Journalism Review, 20(2), 77.
Intermedia Europe (Producer). (2012, June). Citizens’ access to information in Papua New Guinea: Citizen Survey. ABC International Development. Retrieved from www.abcinternationaldevelopment.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/ABC-PNG-Report.pdf.
Keener, V., Marra, J., Finucane, M., Spooner, D., & Smith, M. (2013). Climate change and Pacific islands: Indicators and impacts: Report for the 2012 Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment. Washington D.C: Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment.
Lutunatabua, F. (2014). Pacific warriors declare: ‘We are not drowning, We are fighting’. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 18 February 2017, from www.huffingtonpost.com/fenton-lutunatabua/pacific-warriors-declare-_b_4598552.html
Macleod, J. (2016). Citizen media and civil resistance in West Papua. Pacific Journalism Review, 22(1), 38-51.
Maibach, E., Myers, T., & Leiserowitz, A. (2014). Climate scientists need to set the record straight: There is a scientific consensus that human-caused climate change is happening. Earth's Future, 2(5), 295-298.
Mateus, S. D. (2014). Climate change: The ‘greatest threat' to the peoples of the Pacific. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 23 May 2017, from http://p.dw.com/p/1CmNP
NAB. (2013). Pacific journalists into climate change training. Retrieved 23 May 2017 www.nab.vu/pacific-journalists-climate-change-training
O’Neill, S., & Boykoff, M. (2012). The role of new media in engaging the public with climate change. In L. Whitmarsh, I. Lorenzoni & S. O'Neill (Eds.),
Engaging the public with climate change: Behaviour change and communication (pp. 233-251): Routledge.
Pacific Island Forum. (2015). Campaign to amplify Pacific voice on climate change. Retrieved 6 February 2017, from www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO1511/S00013/campaign-to-amplify-pacific-voice-on-climate-change.htm
Papoutsaki, E., & Harris, U. (2008). Pacific islands communication issues: Local issues, regional perspectives. Singapore; Suva; Auckland.: AMIC: USP; PMC (AUT).
Papoutsaki, E., McManus, M., & Matbob, P. (2011). Communication, culture& society in Papua New Guinea: Yu tok tok wanem? Auckland;: Pacific Media Centre; DWU Press.
Patel, S. (2006). ‘Islands of understanding’: Environmental journalism in the South Pacific. Pacific Journalism Review, 12(2), 148-153.
Potter, S. (2008). The sting of climate change: Malaria and dengue fever in maritime Southeast Asia and the Pacific islands Lowy Institute Policy Brief.
Robie, D. (2010). Iconic media environmental images of Oceania: Challenging corporate news for solutions. Dreadlocks: Oceans, Islands and Skies, 22-47.
Robie, D. (2014a). ‘Carbon colonialism’: Pacific environmental risk, media credibility and a deliberative perspective. Pacific Journalism Review, 20(2), 59.
Robie, D. (2014b). Don’t spoil my beautiful face: Media, mayhem and human rights in the Pacific: Auckland: Little Island Press.
Robie, D. (2017). Tanah Papua. Asia-Pacific news blind spots and citizen media: From the ‘Act of Free Choice’ betrayal to a social media revolution. Otago Foreign Policy School Monograph.
Rotman, D., Vieweg, S., Yardi, S., Chi, E. H., Preece, J., Shneiderman, B., . . . Glaisyer, T. (2011). From slacktivism to activism: Participatory culture in the age of social media. CHI'11 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, May, 819-822.
Rupar, V. (2013). A fresh take on journalism authority. Pacific Journalism Review, 19(2), 243-245.
Singh, S. (2017). State of the media review in four Melanesian countries—Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. In 2015. SSGM Discussion Paper, 2017(1).
Stephen, M. (2011). On Nauru, a sinking feeling. The New York Times: The Opinion Pages. Retrieved August 22 2015, from www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/opinion/19stephen.html?_r=0
Tacchi, J., Horst, H., Papoutsaki, E., Thomas, V., & Eggins, J. (2013). PACMAS: Regional State of Media and Communication Report Melbourne: PACMAS/ABC International Development.
The World Bank. (2013). Acting on climate change and disaster risk for the Pacific Washington DC: World Bank.
Wéry, C. (2013). Pacific islands look for model to combat changes due to global warming. The Guardian. Retrieved August 22 2015, from www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/may/07/pacific-islands-global-warming-climate
Williams, J., Goose, S. D., & Wareham, M. (2008). Banning landmines: Disarmament, citizen diplomacy, and human security. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Published
21-07-2017
How to Cite
Titifanue, J., Kant, R., Finau, G., & Tarai, J. (2017). Climate change advocacy in the Pacific: The role of information and communication technologies. Pacific Journalism Review : Te Koakoa, 23(1), 133-149. https://doi.org/10.24135/pjr.v23i1.105
Section
Articles
Copyright (c) 2017 Jason Titifanue, Romitesh Kant, Glen Finau, Jope Tarai
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
