Sinking into the Sea? Climate Change and AOSIS Strategies

Abstract

Climate change poses a serious threat to the world, in particular to the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The organisation Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) represents the SIDS by giving them a voice in the United Nations. We discuss the different aspects of climate change and the role that a small actor like AOSIS plays in protecting the citizens of its member states rather than free ride on larger actors. Which strategies should AOSIS use to encourage an even more ambitious climate policy in the future? We suggest five relevant strategies: 1) Introduction of sanctions in the Paris Agreement, 2) A CO₂ tax, 3) Subsidising new green technology, 4) That AOSIS should look for coalition partners, e.g. China, and 5) Even stronger focus on the linkage between climate change and future migration. Employing such strategies may save the SIDS from sinking into the sea and, at the same time, secure the target level from the Paris Agreement.