Reclaiming a resilient future: Climate Change, Land Reclamation and Development in Kiribati

Keywords: Kiribati, Climate Change, Adaptation, Resilience, Land Reclamation, Small Island States
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 08:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 09:20 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 61

Abstract

Geopolitical imaginaries of sea-level rise and inundation underpin Western constructions of small island states in the Anthropocene. Narratives of “sinking islands” dominate the political discussion of atoll states, with inundation portrayed as a singular inevitable future. However, these narratives have been predominately propagated by external observers and have been resisted by Pacific Islanders. This paper explores how resilience has been mobilised by islanders to construct alternative future pathways.

Drawing upon fieldwork in the South Pacific and at COP24 in Katowice, this paper focuses on how climate change, land reclamation and economic development strategies have been enrolled by the government of Kiribati, an atoll state in the South Pacific, to create an alternative imaginary of “Resilient Kiribati”. Since 2016, the i-Kiribati government has mobilised a vision of “Resilient Kiribati” as an alternative to climate-induced displacement. Land reclamation has been constructed as a form of adaptation as part of a climate-resilient pathway along with economic diversification. There remains significant contention around the viability of these plans. Through an examination of the land reclamation project, this paper argues that the temporalities and spatialities of resilience construct a novel geopolitical imaginary of the nation-state.