Paper short abstract:

An exploration of proactive responses to climate change in Vanuatu by civil society groups and government. I investigate ideas of self-blame and responsibility, anger and climate justice, and the compatibility between climate adaptation narratives and existing cultural frameworks.

Paper long abstract:

Following the destruction of Tropical Cyclone Pam, and in anticipation of COP21, the need to listen to and take leadership from local island voices has never been more imperative. Taking seriously Farbotko's argument that we must move beyond the 'wishful sinking' of drowning island discourses, I explore what proactive responses and understandings of climate change look like in the Small Island Developing State of Vanuatu.

Based upon fieldwork conducted post-Pam, I explore climate mitigation, advocacy and adaptation initiatives adopted at government, civil society and community levels, highlighting what characterises and what constrains the spaces of climate action. I identify the ambivalent role of biblical teachings, utilised by some as a means for comprehending our ecological conditions, but eschewed by others. I interrogate whose voices can be heard and how, examining the relationship of civil society and state, and the extent to which there is a flow of climate understandings between 'grassroots' and government.

I question the extent of Islanders' feelings of anger and self-blame in relation to climate justice, drawing comparisons with Rudiak-Gould's problematisation of narratives of responsibility in the Marshall Islands. I also investigate Rudiak-Gould's notions of promiscuous corroboration, examining the extent to which widespread acceptance of anthropogenic climate change can be understood as a consequence of its compatibility with pre-existing cultural understandings. Consequently I encounter questions of urbanisation, agricultural decline and the power of kastom to shape weather patterns. Throughout I emphasise the importance of identifying and working to amplify Islander-led approaches to climate change in SIDS.