Repositioning the (Is)land: Climate Change Adaptation and the Atoll Assemblage

Abstract

Sinking atolls are an enduring symbol of the power of climate change to destroy inhabited places. Climate impact science and the media share a panoptic gaze on atoll islands seeing them as being small, inert and passive in the face of rising seas. The focus in these accounts is on the power of water as the agent of destruction, while the agency of the assemblage of human and non-human actors that is the (is)land itself is ignored. Thus, atolls are said to be vulnerable, and the prevailing ideas of adaptation are either international relocation to avoid the sea or seawalls to contain it. Based on qualitative field research in Pacific atolls, this paper examines the connections between island peoples and their terrestrial environments, and the work that they are doing in response to the impacts of climate change. It shows how land is conceived symbolically, socio-culturally and legally, and considers its role in sustaining livelihoods and anchoring identities through a changing climate.

Nature-based solutions for atoll habitability

“…B 377: 20210124 assumes: continued progress in emissions reductions, the low probability extremes of sea-level projected under IPCC low-confidence scenarios do not eventuate, and a far greater commitment to adaptation. As we now explain, the capacity of atoll peoples to adapt should also not be discounted as heavily as it is in much of the literature [43].…”

“…Considering the scope for adaptation, and that the vast majority of atoll islands have thus far remained stable in size or have increased in size, the habitability of almost all rural atolls should be sustainable well beyond 2050, though this assumes: continued progress in emissions reductions, the low probability extremes of sea-level projected under IPCC low-confidence scenarios do not eventuate, and a far greater commitment to adaptation. As we now explain, the capacity of atoll peoples to adapt should also not be discounted as heavily as it is in much of the literature [43].…”

Strategies for success of Indigenous businesses on customary land: case studies of three Itaukei (Indigenous Fijian) enterprises

“…Liotta (2009) purports that a sense of belonging occurs between people and places with the idea of developing roots or umbilical cords, and even if resettled in the case of migrants, the connection remains. Climate crisis is regarded as the highest security threat in the Pacific region, and in some cases, people's cultural and spiritual connections to customary land provide a sense of solidarity to stay with dignity and adapt (Jarillo & Barnett, 2022).…”

Pathways to sustain atolls under rising sea levels through land claim and island raising

“…Furthermore, to reduce loss and damage, movement between islands would need to effectively manage losses in land tenure, political representation, cultural decline, identity, education, and employment represented challenges, language, place names, customary practice, tradition, cultural obligations of land custodianship and solidarity that bind people and place, as these factors have been found to cause challenges in other migrating nations (e.g. Mortreux and Barnett 2009, Adger et al 2013, Donner 2015, Jarillo and Barnett 2022. Cultural factors are particularly important, including land, relocation and religion being key factors determining or hindering the want or need to migrate (Oakes 2019).…”