Dustin Breitling Thesis Advisor: Martin Riegl, PhD. Small Island Developing States and Statehood Abstract: The spate of warnings that have been issued concerning Climate Change and its damaging impact upon the livelihood of populations has garnered increasing acknowledgement and critical concern. In a century where the potential for states to be submerged, concerns are being raised about how states, especially Small Island Developing States, are susceptible to losing Statehood. Small Island Developing States are already being ravaged by higher sea levels and dramatic loss of livelihood through inundation and potential submergence of their territory by the end of the century. Already these concerns are catalyzing Small Island Developing States to seek out alternative arrangements for their populations and importantly to preserve their legal personality. These arrangements tie in decisive concerns that connect how States are understood within in the international community as possessing a permanent territory, effective governance, permanent population and the capacity to be recognized by others. The angle offered and explored here becomes what happens once a permanent territory is undermined by seawaters and populations are relocated to Host States. If these issues are bound to occur then can historical...

This thesis examines how global development goals affect Fijian plans and policy strategies to achieve food security. The concept of food security is vast and complex, as several development issues contribute to the difficulty in achieving such security. It is therefore relevant to look at some of the dominating and underlying causes that challenge the possibility for Fiji to achieve food security. Built on previous theoretical and empirical evidence, this thesis identifies poverty and vulnerability as two dominant causes that hinder food security on Fiji. However, other causes, both internal and external, are recognised. Global development goals such as the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals have highly influenced the strategies built within Fijian plans and policies. Millennium Development Goal 1 and 7, and Sustainable Development Goal 1 and 2, are of particular interest to this study, as the different goals target the issues of poverty, vulnerability and hunger. Although the different goals all target the underlying causes of food insecurity, this thesis finds that they differ in influencing a focus on achieving sustainable food security. Therefore, as the aspects of poverty, vulnerability and food security are highly intertwined, this thesis examines how strategies tackling poverty and vulnerability reduction have influenced strategies on food security on Fiji. By comparing the plans and policies built in consistency with the Millennium Development Goals and the Sustainable Development Goals, it has been possible to analyse whether such global goals have had an influence on addressing the underlying causes of food security on Fiji. Using the method of structured focused comparison in combination with an in-depth text analysis, structured questions have been built in order to analyse the chosen materials. The analysis has been conducted using information from different national plans found to be of relevance to the purpose of this study. The results show that goals with greater focus on social and environmental vulnerability, as well as long-term targets to eradicate poverty, provide a greater success in influencing a focus on food security in Fijian plans and policies. However, additional factors such as political instability, climate change and globalization need to be integrated into further studies on the chosen subject, in order to provide a greater understanding of how to achieve food security in a Pacific Small Island Developing State such as Fiji.

abstract: Small island developing states (SIDS) are on the very frontlines of climate change (UNDP, 2017). Increasing attention on the unique social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities SIDS face has led to the discussion of the overall resilience of this population. Specifically, post-disaster studies of resilience carried out on SIDS have pointed to social resilience and education as two primary indicators of the overall resilience of these vulnerable communities (Aldrich, 2012; Muttarak & Lutz, 2014); yet social aspects of resilience related to SIDS have been underexplored, in comparison to ecological and economic themes (Berkes & Ross, 2013). Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the personal and professional lived-natural disaster experiences of SIDS residents who are educators in order to understand their role in building social resilience within their community. In-depth interviews were conducted with educators employed at public and private schools in the United States Virgin Islands. The findings indicate that residents who are educators conceptualized resilience according to the following themes and sub-themes: (1) Social Process which involves Social Recovery and Community Alliances to ‘bounce back’ to an undefined level of normalcy and (2) Embodied Identity which was described in terms of Community Personifications of resilience as a trait in general citizens and educators. Participants identified internal and external resources as influential in how residents responded to natural disasters, by so doing, significantly contributing to positive post-disaster outcomes; these resources are referred to in the literature as protective factors (Rutter, 1985). The findings also demonstrate that educators had both a personal and professional responsibility to help their community contend with disasters, and this outcome is best explicated through the concept of protective factors. The research findings are significant because they: (1) contribute to the limited body of literature on social resilience in small island developing states, (2) demonstrate the importance of subjective perspectives in the development of disaster preparedness and management strategies for climate-vulnerable island populations, and (3) indicate a need for future research to use terminology which acknowledges the many ways in which disaster-prone communities have historically demonstrated and/or embodied resilience. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Community Resources and Development 2020

Seagrass meadows, like coral reefs, are in decline globally but are often neglected in marine policy and conservation despite their equally critical ecosystem services. Both habitats can be heavily impacted by wave surges, rainfall-induced earth movement and flooding, changes to water temperature, salinity, and acidity, and increased levels of turbidity—all occurring at increased rates due to a changing global climate. We demonstrate that multispectral satellite imagery, geospatial tools, and classification techniques can be used to inform management by identifying and quantifying changes in seagrass distribution and the presence of sediment-related threats. Results from Dominica indicate near-shore seagrass habitat area increased by 195.7 hectares between 2016 and 2019, suggesting a continued expansion of Halophila stipulacea. Further analysis showed 22.4 hectares of accreted coastal sediment and 1362.2 hectares of suspended sediment captured, placing 424.4 hectares of sensitive reef area at risk of experiencing tissue abrasion or reduced photosynthetic activity. Our methods can be used by marine resource managers and policy makers to inform decisions relating to fisheries production, emissions trading, disaster risk mitigation, and invasive species monitoring, facilitating sustainable growth in the blue economy.

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face a unique set of challenges when it comes to the field of Planning. In 1992, the United Nations Earth Summit brought international attention to SIDS; the combination of geographic isolation, small size, and limited resources were listed as a few of the unique environmental and economic disadvantages facing these islands. The island of St.Lucia, located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean, is classified by the United Nations as one of the vulnerable SIDS in the Caribbean region. Since the 1992 Earth Summit, the literature on planning strategies for SIDS has shifted away from an economic based mass tourism strategies toward a culturally and environmentally focused sustainable tourism strategies; such as eco-tourism and community-based tourism. Mass tourism, through the form of cruise ship tourism, is currently the largest sector of the Caribbean tourism market. Based on the cruise tourism trends over the past 30 years, the Caribbean cruise tourism industry is expected to continue to grow at a rapid pace. The continual growth in this form of mass tourism contradicts the current planning policy trends toward sustainable tourism strategies. In order to better understand ways of connecting cruise tourism to small island sustainable tourism, this thesis examines aspects of the mass cruise tourism-sustainable tourism contradiction. This thesis evaluates the various types of tourism development strategies for SIDS, as well as, examines St.Lucia’s current tourism development policies. Interviews with local onshore business owners were then conducted in order to understand the relationship between local cruise-dependant businesses and the cruise ship industry. Finally, recommendations are given on ways to incorporate cruise tourism into St.Lucia’s existing community-based tourism goals.

Yes / This chapter is an output from the PMI2 Project funded by the UK Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) for the benefit of the Malaysian Higher Education Sector and the UK Higher Education Sector. Any views expressed are not necessarily those of BIS, nor British Council.

Small developing states can use proper regulatory frameworks in policy and sector development to implement efficiency and consumer safeguards to the sector. However, sufficient research on the impact of telecommunications regulatory institutions on micro economies has not been conducted. Capture theory was used as the theoretical lens for this thesis. In doing so, a quantitative analysis was done using, cross-sectional pooled time series to determine how an independent telecommunications regulator impacted the telecommunications sector in the English-speaking Caribbean. All the data acquired for analysis were secondary yearly data collected from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) from 1993 to 2012. Specifically, this study examined how prices, investment, infrastructure, and competition in the telecoms sector are affected by the type of regulatory regime (independent or non independent ) for fixed line and mobile services. Results indicate that the type of regulatory regime has a statistically significant impact on fixed line services and price of the telecommunications sector (p < .0001). However, this regulation was absent in other areas such as cellular services, broadband usage, telecoms investment and competition. The potential for positive social change is tied to recommendations specific to developing countries to ensure their regulators have autonomy in making decisions regarding the volume, quality and costs of telecommunications services. Legislation must minimize any overlap in the roles of policy makers, legislators, administrators and regulators to ensure that the regulatory framework addresses the particulars conditions of the country in which it operates.

This report is aimed at exploring what a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) would need to do in order to strategically use the Mauritius Strategy (MSI) to move their country towards sustainability as defined by the four principles of sustainability. Interviews were conducted with users and experts on the MSI representing various sectors such as governments, intergovernmental organisations and non-governmental organisations. These interviews were combined with document content analysis of key texts in order to identify strengths and necessary improvements of the MSI. A potential "ideal use" of the MSI was created by combining its current strengths and the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. This was then compared with the current reality of MSI usage, and gaps between the two were identified. Recommendations were given based on these gaps and on the improvements pointed out in the interviews in order to form a process through which a SIDS government could use the MSI to reach full sustainability.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the discursive use of first person plural pronoun we through a discourse analysis of the variety of arguments by leaders of Pacific Island States in political debates, specifically within a climate change context. The research question is “How do political leaders of Pacific Island states make discursive use of the first person plural pronoun we in political debates in a climate change context?” By using a textual discourse analysis to study statements made by Pacific Island leaders at the UN Conference of the Parties, the investigation finds a wide variety of argumentation styles and pronominal choices. The main finding is how the word we is used in several ways, all of which carry political meaning, and the pronominal choice is found to depend on social context as well as the intention of the speaker. Political leaders utilize the pronoun we as a tool for political rhetoric, to argue both that the international community as a whole will face the negative consequences of climate change while also emphasizing the specific victim status of the islands. Several of the arguments found in the statements that were studied are centered on the vulnerable status of the SIDS (Small Island Developing States), emphasizing how they are severely affected by climate change. The essay demonstrates that the pronominal choices also have actual implications on the dynamics of the political arena. Primarily, the exclusive we isused to create a sense of division between groups, which encourages political mobilization. In addition, leaders are shown to make claims of a leadership role by using an exclusive we to create an image of the own nation as responsible, and opt for an inclusive we to create a feeling of shared responsibility globally.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第23481号 / 工博第4893号 / 新制||工||1764(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科社会基盤工学専攻 / (主査)教授 森 信人, 教授 立川 康人, 准教授 志村 智也 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM