WOMEN'S CLIMATE CHANGE ADVOCACY IN KIRIBATI: VULNERABILITY, AGENCY AND STORYTELLING - DIVA
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Women’s climate change advocacy in
Kiribati:
Vulnerability, agency and storytelling
Pippa Haughton
Word count: 13,359
Communication for Development
One-year Master
15 Credits
2020
Supervisor: Florencia Enghel
I would like to acknowledge the five powerful and inspiring women who are the
backbone of this thesis: Claire, Lucy, Pelenise, Tessie and Vasiti. Thank you for
being so generous with your time, for weathering the connection challenges
with me and for sharing your amazing wealth of knowledge and experiences.
Thank you to my supervisor Florencia for being patient, for keeping me on
track and for sharing your expertise. Also, to the Malmӧ ComDev faculty for
inspiring curiosity and guiding me through this Masters process.
To my parents Dael and Rick, thank you for your support and encouragement
and for introducing me to Kiribati and its incredible people.
Finally thank you to my partner Keane for your constant support and love, and
for bringing Cookie into my life, who gave me the kicks I needed to finally finish
this thesis.
2
Abstract
Climate change has hit the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati hard over the past decade, with
unreliable weather patterns, drought, flooding and king tides all affecting the homes,
health and livelihoods of residents. As the effects of climate change increase, women are
rising up as advocates, fighting for action on mitigation and adaptation strategies locally
and internationally. Through in-depth interviews with five I-Kiribati women, this study
explores the strategies and impacts of their climate change advocacy. It addresses the
questions: ‘How are I-Kiribati women advocating for climate action?’, and ‘What impact
do the I-Kiribati women mobilized for climate action hope their voices and stories will
have locally and transnationally?’.
The qualitative study draws on feminist theory and discourses on vulnerability and
women in development, with a view to breaking away from the rhetoric of women as
‘victims’ and focusing on women’s agency in climate change advocacy. It explores the
nuances of gender and climate change in Kiribati and the effects of shifting gender roles
in local communities. Findings highlight the role of narratives and storytelling in Kiribati
and internationally to translate science-based arguments into easily understandable
messages for the public.
Keywords: gender, climate change, advocacy, communications for development, Kiribati,
Pacific Islands, feminism, storytelling, sustainable development, social change, women’s
agency, vulnerability
3
Contents
Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Background .................................................................................................................................... 6
Literature review ................................................................................................................................ 9
Climate change in Kiribati .............................................................................................................. 9
Gender and climate change ......................................................................................................... 12
Women and sustainable development/social change ................................................................. 15
Storytelling in communications and advocacy ............................................................................. 17
Theoretical Framework .................................................................................................................... 19
Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 21
Methods ....................................................................................................................................... 21
Limitations .................................................................................................................................... 22
Remote interviewing .................................................................................................................... 23
Five female I-Kiribati climate advocates .......................................................................................... 24
Research Findings/Analysis .............................................................................................................. 27
Changing environment as a catalyst for advocacy ....................................................................... 27
On vulnerability and agency......................................................................................................... 31
Shifting gender roles and emerging voices .................................................................................. 33
Resilient women as change agents .............................................................................................. 36
Storytelling as an advocacy tool ................................................................................................... 39
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 42
References........................................................................................................................................ 46
Appendices ....................................................................................................................................... 50
Appendix 1. ...................................................................................................................................... 50
Appendix 2. ...................................................................................................................................... 52
4
Introduction
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing our global population today. In
the Republic of Kiribati (hereinafter referred to as Kiribati), in the Central Pacific Ocean,
female climate advocates are leading the charge not only in advocating to and educating
communities locally and globally on the effects of climate change, but also in
highlighting solutions and inspiring action. This thesis aims to explore this advocacy as a
function of communication for development (C4D) and contribute to the field of C4D
research by answering the primary question: ‘How are I-Kiribati1 women advocating for
climate action?’, and the secondary question ‘What impact do the I-Kiribati women
mobilized for climate action hope their voices and stories will have locally and
transnationally?’
When it comes to environmental catastrophes resulting from climate change, women
are often depicted in the media and in development discourses as victims. While it is
statistically accurate that women are more vulnerable than men when it comes to
natural disasters (Olsson et al., 2014), this vulnerability is not due to women’s inherent
lack of strength and capacity for resilience. As noted by Moreno and Shaw ‘restricted
access to assets (physical, financial, human, social and natural) and unequal power
relations’ (2018, p.206) are more likely causes of women’s vulnerability when faced with
extreme adversity. In fact, not only do women ‘not lack agency in the environmental
space’, they actually ‘hold critical local knowledge that can enhance climate adaptations
and assist the development of new technologies to address climate variability’ (Alston,
2014, p.289). This thesis breaks away from the narrative of vulnerability, exploring how
women in Kiribati are harnessing their agency and using their voices to inspire climate
action.
The study seeks to understand more clearly how I-Kiribati women are affected by
climate change and how they are taking action to catalyse mitigation and adaptation
1
The people of Kiribati are known locally as I-Kiribati.
5
measures locally and internationally. Exploring the communications strategies and
messages used by I-Kiribati women to advocate for climate action will provide a useful
glimpse into the specific ways locals from the areas worst affected by climate change
are fighting back. It will also provide insight into the distinct ways that women use
their experiences and their voices to tell stories with the aim of creating change on
social and political levels.
This is a qualitative, exploratory study, focusing on interviews with a small sample of I-
Kiribati women to look at the gendered aspects of their lived experiences in the face of
climate change. The interviews explore local women’s views on climate change and how
they are advocating for action through different communications tactics and platforms
both locally and on a global scale.
Background
Climate change is defined by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) as ‘a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to
human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in
addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods’ (1992,
p.3). It is now universally recognised as a phenomenon triggered by human behaviours
(Semenza et al, 2008, p.469) that is reaching several tipping points that could see
irreversible changes to the earth’s environment (IPCC, 2019). The effects of climate
change are already being felt around the world, and the island nation of Kiribati (see
Figure 1.) is one of hardest hit countries.
6Figure 1: Map of Kiribati (GeoCurrents, 2015)
As one of the countries most heavily affected by climate change to date, and facing
extreme consequences in the future (Law, 2019), Kiribati was a fitting choice of location
for this study. Through family connections, I was able to make contact online with Claire,
Lucy, Pelenise, Tessie and Vasiti, five women in Kiribati who advocate for climate action
in a variety of capacities. As I will show in the Findings section of this thesis, the country
context and the wealth of experience of each interviewee provides a rich insight into
climate change issues and responses.
Kiribati is made up of 32 atolls and one island, many of which have a highest point of just
a couple of metres above sea level (Aretaake, 2019, p.27), making them more vulnerable
to sea level rises. Storey and Hunter explain that: ‘the physical geography of Kiribati
provides a number of serious development predicaments, including … a plethora of
environmental vulnerabilities that are exacerbated by population growth, demographic
concentration and resource use patterns’ (2010, p.168).
7Alongside geographical challenges, conditions in Kiribati are being and will continue to be
exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Women are particularly impacted by these
effects as they are primarily responsible for domestic tasks such as cooking, cleaning and
collecting water. The study’s findings reveal that one of the main challenges women face
is being able to source safe water for their families following the pollution of their wells
with sea water. Werner explains that ‘fresh water on an atoll is limited to the thin layer of
fresh water that balances on top of the brackish water in the underground tables’ (2017,
p.40). Flooding and king tides (see Figure 2) result in this water lens being polluted and
made unsafe for drinking. This salination not only affects residents through an increase in
preventable disease and sickness, it also affects both crops and seafood supplies, the diet
staples most families rely on.
Figure 2: Locals walk through flood waters in Tarawa, Kiribati after a king tide. Credit: Rick Haughton/2015
8Literature review
This literature review spans four areas pertinent to the research questions: climate
change in Kiribati; women and sustainable development/social change; gender and
climate change; and storytelling as a tool for communications and advocacy. These areas
of study and their intersections inform both the theoretical framework for the thesis and
the analysis of the research findings.
Climate change in Kiribati
To analyse the nature of female advocacy in Kiribati, it is first necessary to delve into the
history of climate change in the country. This discussion looks into how the island nation
has been impacted by climate change, and the effects of climate change on families,
communities, infrastructure and the geography of the islands.
Kiribati has a population of around 118,000 people (United Nations, 2019), with the
majority residing on the atoll of Tarawa. The land area is small and dispersed over a large
area of ocean (3.5 million square kilometres), creating challenges in transport,
communications and supplies. Kiribati’s geography also creates challenges, many of the
atolls are narrow, making them more susceptible to the effects of climate change.
Interviewee Tessie explains ‘some of the islands are so narrow that when you stand in the
middle of some parts of the island you can see the ocean and the lagoon’. In Tarawa the
highest point of the island is merely a few metres above sea level (Aretaake, 2019),
making it very vulnerable to changes in sea level and king tides.
The geographical challenges are further exacerbated by a plethora of development
challenges such as:
severe overcrowding; a growing share of housing in informal and unplanned
settlements; pressure on urban water reserves; high levels of lagoon pollution, as a
result of increased solid waste and continuing use of the lagoon for human waste;
failing water and sanitation systems; and conflict over land (Storey & Hunter, 2010,
p.168).
9Adverse weather events have been a feature of life in Kiribati throughout history. Like the
rest of the Pacific region, Kiribati is also highly susceptible to protracted natural disasters
like droughts. The changing climate has compounded the effects of these disasters
(Werner, 2017), bringing instability to communities and families in Kiribati. Storey and
Hunter reveal that ‘periodic storm surges could cause up to 55-80 per cent of the land
area in North Tarawa and up to 25-54 per cent of South Tarawa to become inundated by
2050’ (2010, p.171). This is a sobering reality for residents of Kiribati, made more difficult
by the knowledge that many of their atolls could become uninhabitable before this
inundation occurs due to the pollution of their water sources with saltwater. (Weir et al,
2016)
King tides and flooding have created erosion and damaged dwellings and infrastructure
(see Figure 3). Weir et al. explain that ‘coupled with the rise in sea level, this is increasing
the incidence of seawater inundation of coastal regions and coral atolls, which leads to
the groundwater becoming saltier and thus unusable for drinking or crop growing’ (2016,
p.1020). Interviewees revealed a multitude of consequences from this salination of the
Figure 3: Houses damaged by flooding after a King Tide in Kiribati in 2015. Credit: Rick Haughton/2015
10local water supply, including: difficulties for women to access water not only for drinking,
but for bathing and washing; negative effects on the nutrition of families due to loss of
crops paired with dwindling seafood supplies; and an increase in diarrheal diseases and
other health issues in those with no choice but to drink the brackish water.
Despite having some of the smallest carbon footprints in the world, Pacific Island
countries like Kiribati suffer from the first and the most intense direct impacts of climate
change. This not only fuels the desire for many within the country to advocate for action,
it also makes the population strategically placed to tell their stories and have a poignant
impact in global discussions. Tessie, who worked as foreign secretary during the Anote
Tong administration (2003-2016), describes Tong’s time in office as the period when the
global community started to sit up and take notice of Kiribati. As well as advocating on
the human impacts of climate change in the Pacific Islands, President Tong’s
administration introduced the ‘migration with dignity’ policy. This policy looked to the
future of the people of Kiribati in the event of a failure of all mitigation strategies. It
outlined two goals:
to create opportunities for those who wish to migrate abroad now and in the near
future and to improve the levels of educational and vocational qualifications that can be
obtained in Kiribati, so that they match those that are available in the places where
residents may migrate to (McNamara, 2015, p.62).
But migration is still considered a last resort by people in Kiribati due to their strong links
to the land and culture (Weir et al., 2016, p.1018).
As global debates continue to rage, and action on climate change mitigation moves at
arguably a snail’s pace, mitigation and adaptation efforts forge ahead in Kiribati.
Government programmes2 are providing the basis for climate change action locally and
globally, bolstered by community initiatives and non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
2
Examples of these government programmes include: the Kiribati Adaptation Program (KAP) which ran
from 2003 to 2016, the Kiribati National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) released in 2007 (UNDP,
2020), and the more recent Kiribati Climate Change Policy (KCCP) and Kiribati Joint Implementation Plan for
Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management (KJIP) (Government of Kiribati, 2019).
11such as The Kiribati Climate Action Network (KiriCAN)3. KiriCAN was set up in 2009,
spearheaded by three Kiribati locals including Claire and Pelenise, two of the women
interviewed for this thesis. They work with national NGOs and community-based
organisations to:
support and empower civil society organizations to influence the design and
development of an effective national strategy on mitigation and adaptation processes
and ensure its implementation at international, national and local levels in the
promotion of equity and sustainable development (KiriCAN, 2020).
When defining adaptation and mitigation Weir et al. point out ‘adaptation has colloquially
been described as ‘managing the unavoidable’, and mitigation as ‘avoiding the
unmanageable’ (2016, p.1020). While the most desirable goal when it comes to climate
change action is mitigation, little can be done in Kiribati on global mitigation due to their
extremely limited contribution to global carbon emissions. Interviewee Pelenise
expressed frustration at the lack of action on mitigation on a global scale. After attending
global meetings and conferences for many years, she says the lack of real progress was
clear. ‘Nothing really comes out of those meetings,’ she says. ‘We should be moving on,
we should be coming up with real solutions, not continuing to advocate’.
Gender and climate change
Building on the above analysis of the current context of climate change in Kiribati, it is
also important to understand that climate change is an inherently gendered issue. It is
an issue with women at the frontlines, placed there by the inequities they face due to
social roles, poverty and unequal treatments (Gaard, 2015). Globally ‘gender
inequalities persist and women are disadvantaged against almost all socio-economic
indicators including education, health, employment, income and experiences of
poverty’ (Alston, 2014, p.288). These inequalities see women starting on the backfoot
when it comes to progressing through life, and disproportionately facing challenges in
3
https://kirican.wordpress.com/about-kirican/
12their everyday experiences. In the climate change arena discourses are often centred
around male-dominated domains like science and security (Djoudi et al., 2016), and
women’s voice aren’t always heard. In contrast with masculine approaches to climate
change solutions, ‘some feminists have argued that women have tended to focus on
the cooperative rather than conflictual dimensions of the problem’ (MacGregor, 2010,
p.231), contributing to more collective and equitable solutions.
Gender plays a significant role in vulnerability during and after climate events (Alston,
2014). Steady explains:
gender, as a major organizing principle of society, has almost universally endowed
women with responsibility for the critical areas dealing with the use of natural resources
and women play a critical role in the day to day management of these resources and
have preserved and transmitted knowledge about the sustainable use of these
resources (2014, p.10).
Part of the reason women shoulder more of the climate change burden is due to what
Nelson et al. describe as ‘their triple roles in maintaining the household, engaging in
community organising, and productive work in the informal economy’ (2010, p.55).
Studies on gender and climate change have used this image of women bearing the
burden of environmental changes to frame of women as victims of climate change.
This pervasive rhetoric of vulnerability has been adopted by many UN and non-
government organisations, categorising women often without attempting to
understand their nuanced situations and the power relations at play in their contexts.
Djoudi et al argue that this could be attributed to the fact that ‘it is far simpler for
agencies and donors to target the most vulnerable than to understand and generate
transformational change’ (2016, p.254). By simplifying the issue of gendered
vulnerability, it is easier for organisations to work towards one-size-fits-all solutions to
the climate change crisis. Unfortunately, this oversimplification often leads to the
perpetuation of gender stereotypes and the exacerbation of gender inequalities in
policies and programmes on climate change.
13The categorisation of women as vulnerable also leads to the oversight of the unique
and powerful experiences, knowledge and skills women can bring to the table in local
and global responses to climate change. Alston argues ‘women do not lack agency in
the environmental space; they hold critical local knowledge that can enhance climate
adaptations and assist the development of new technologies to address climate
variability’ (2014, p.289). The findings below explore the depth and nuance of I-Kiribati
women’s experiences and agency, and how they are harnessing this agency to catalyse
action on climate change.
Moving toward gender transformative climate change approaches that actively work to
reduce gender inequalities in turn recognises the agency rather than the vulnerability of
women (Winterford et al., 2018). Shifts in social norms in Kiribati are contributing to the
move towards these approaches, with women now well-represented in government
positions and respected as voices of authority in the country. It could also be argued that
climate change itself has contributed to this shift in gender roles, as power dynamics and
social structures can often shift in times of crisis. In fact, Nelson et al argue that ‘the social
disruption and altered inter-group relations that can occur as a result of a disaster may
enable women to challenge or override existing gender norms’ (2010, p.56). This study
departs from analysis of the vulnerability of women as a homogenous group. It explores
nuances of women’s experiences and reactions to climate change, focusing on how they
use their agency in an ever-shifting environment.
MacGregor calls for feminist research to turn its attention to the environmental crisis,
acknowledging the roots of the discourses that frame gender and climate politics
around the world (2010). By seeking out female experiences of climate change and
trying to understand strategies used by women in Kiribati to advocate on climate
change issues, this thesis responds to that call.
14Women and sustainable development/social change
Due to their traditional roles in society as managers of natural resources and
homemakers, women are often most heavily impacted by climate change and natural
disasters. Weir et al. explain that ‘food availability and people’s access to food are among
the first things to be affected following natural disasters’ (2016, p.1023). This inhibits
women’s capacity to provide for their family and is exacerbated by pollution of water
sources and lack of household resources such as firewood (MacGregor, 2010).
Despite being disproportionately affected by these issues, women are consistently
underrepresented in decision making around development issues and social changes.
Dyer suggests that ‘gendered norms around public speech contribute to an absence of
women in strategic decision making’ (2018, pg.2). Dyer’s study interrogates the nature of
communicative spaces in rural Solomon Islands to explore how they enable or constrain
women’s engagement. Similar constraints are reflected in Kiribati communities where
men are traditionally the leaders and heads of households. Decision making largely takes
place in traditional communicative spaces called maneabas. Maneabas are the largest
buildings in the community and are used for both formal decision making and social
events. The positions in which the elder men of the village are seated within the maneaba
denote their hierarchy (Whincup, 2010).
However, the findings in this thesis show that the role of women in these spaces is
shifting. Interviewee Vasiti explained ‘before you would hardly see women joining the
circle with the elders and with men in the maneaba. Right now, you can actually see more
women participating and giving their perspectives on what should be done in the
community’. Interviewees also highlighted the importance of alternative communicative
spaces such as churches, schools, public squares, roadshows and local media that provide
women with enabling environments to exchange ideas and advocate to community
members of both sexes. Khalil et al. discuss women’s important ability to share ‘practical
knowledge through their membership in relatively cohesive community networks’ (2019,
p.10). Women climate action advocates in Kiribati are well respected by the communities
15they work in, with recognised roles in the climate change and development agendas in
Kiribati.
Many theories expound on the relationship between women and development. Bhavnani
et al. concisely summarise ‘the progression from WID to WAD to GAD’ (2016, p.5).
Women in Development (WID) focuses on equity between men and women, Women and
Development (WAD) recognises women’s centrality to development and questions their
ongoing exclusion from development projects, while Gender and Development (GAD)
focuses on empowering women and transforming unequal social and gender relations
(Bhavnani et al., 2016). Bhavnani went on to introduce a new approach called Women,
Culture, Development (WCD), a theory that centres on women’s agency and the
inseparable nature of production and reproduction in the lives of women (In Bhavnani et
al., 2016). The approach emphasises the importance of culture in development, which
was echoed by the advocates during this study’s interviews, particularly the role of
culture in the production of knowledge and stories and in driving social change.
Perhaps most pertinent to this thesis, however, is the Women Environment Development
(WED) approach. The theory draws on ‘images of women's current roles as users and
managers of natural resources’ supporting the view that ‘women have an especially close
affinity with the environment, and that women's and environmental interests are
complementary - what is good for women is good for the environment and vice versa’
(Leach et al., 1995, p.1). Following this theory, the traditional and enduring roles of
women as managers of natural resources endow them with an inherent authority in
sustainable development and social change projects.
One negative aspect of the WED discourse is unintentional: the added role of
‘environmental caretaker’ increasing the burden on women who already shoulder a
disproportionate amount unpaid labour and caring duties (Resurrección, 2017).
Resurrección points out that WED discourses ‘seem to put forward the view that women’s
identity is one-dimensional and fixed’ (2013, p.35), suggesting a need for more nuanced
representations of women and their voices in this sphere. In Kiribati the presence of
16powerful women’s voices on both local and global advocacy platforms is contributing to
the diversity of representation of female experiences and insights.
Alston highlights a need for local strategies to empower women, affording them the
space, resources and platforms needed to express their views on climate change (2014).
Through my research I identify such strategies, developed and employed in Kiribati by the
interviewees and their peers.
Storytelling in communications and advocacy
One of the key advocacy tools employed by women in Kiribati to effectively communicate
the issues surrounding climate change is storytelling. Storytelling has long been regarded
as a critical tool for effective communication, but it has a particular historical significance
in Kiribati culture. Weir et al. explain that ‘Pacific people have a strong social and cultural
attachment to their land, which is recognised in many countries by continued traditional
ownership structures’ (2016, p.1023). Minks elaborates on this importance discussing the
close ties communities maintain to their natural environment using narrative to construct
and transmit knowledge. The interviewees underlined the importance of storytelling in
Kiribati for passing down morals, values, customs and genealogy as well as practical
knowledge like skills, medicines and recipes. Additionally, Minks argues that ‘narratives
are vehicles of socialization for much more than just knowledge about the environment;
they “provide an epistemological basis for negotiating and interpreting everyday life”’ (In
Gounder, 2015, p.61).
The benefits of storytelling and the ways in which it shapes societies are manifest.
Gounder sees stories as ‘experiences that teach children – and continuously teach adults
– about their history, identity, cosmology, acceptable social and discursive practices,
taboos, and so forth’ (2015, p.61). Historically in Kiribati the primary method of
storytelling is orally, from generation to generation (Janif et al., 2016). The interviews
demonstrate that Kiribati female climate action advocates maintain storytelling as one of
their key methods of communication today. Through education of children in school
17programmes and particularly through sharing knowledge in groups of women, people are
both engaged in the climate change discussion and empowered to spread their
knowledge to their broader communities.
Fischer’s narrative paradigm theory provides an insight into why the tradition of
storytelling has endured, remaining an influential tool throughout the ages. The theory
asserts that that all human beings are storytellers, who use narratives to communicate
and understand the world around them (Qvortrup & Nielsen, 2019). Qvortrup & Nielsen
suggest that ‘inhabiting a story gives an external purpose – a larger but implicit backdrop
to whatever current activities we are preoccupied with, as well as procedures for
evaluation and judgment’ (2019, p.151). By using narratives that are common to
communities or social groups, humans make sense of their context, determine right from
wrong, and act accordingly. The moral impetus created by shared stories is particularly
useful regarding climate change, an issue that demands not only understanding but
action.
As a C4D tool, storytelling can shape powerful and persuasive messages to influence
audiences and catalyse action. In fact, Lewis et al. go as far as to suggest that storytelling
can ‘reach far more people and may, therefore, be more influential than academic or
policy works in shaping public knowledge and understanding of development issues’
(2008, p.207). On a global scale, the value of storytelling is receiving greater recognition in
organisations and policy arenas. Moezzi et al. suggest this shift could stem from
‘dissatisfaction with the dominance of physical, technical, and economic representations’
(2017, p.1). Through video interviews, feature stories, animations, podcasts and many
other mediums, global organisations are telling the stories of people at local levels to
humanize their causes. It is becoming more widely accepted that in order to engage with
a public audience it is important to ‘reframe evidence in ways that more science-ordered
formats miss’ (Moezzi et al., 2017, p.1). By showcasing local stories on global platforms,
advocates, policy-makers and organisations can reach more people with relatable,
actionable information on science-based issues.
18For climate action advocates in Kiribati, storytelling is a two-way street – sharing their
lived experiences and listening to those of local people helps open constructive dialogue
on the issues. Mould states that ‘narratives are not only descriptions of events, they are
interpretations of those events’ (2011, p.192). Several interviewees underlined the
importance of recognising the environmental observations of local residents and helping
them to interpret those observations by sharing their own narratives and scientific
information linked to climate change. Qvortrup & Nielsen explain that the ability to
inhabit or ‘dwell’ in narratives, allows people to prescribe meaning to their actions, and
by extension invite others to dwell in shared narratives (2019). By infusing different
cultural practices of storytelling with lessons on issues such as climate change, advocates
in Kiribati are helping their communities understand and act on those issues. The value of
storytelling is still being explored in the development world, but it is clear that by seeking
out and sharing stories of local experiences, local and global discussions around climate
change can be greatly enriched.
Theoretical Framework
This degree project draws on feminist theory, using gender as an analytical category. It
explores the role of communicative advocacy in the promotion of climate change action,
and the intersection of feminism and climate change advocacy. It investigates how
women in Kiribati are using their agency to advocate for climate action. Women’s
advocacy for climate action is closely linked to C4D as it one of the forms of
communications contributing to sustainable development around the world. Enghel
defines C4D as ‘intentional and strategically organized processes of face-to-face and/or
mediated communication aimed at promoting dialogue and action to address inequality,
injustice, and insecurity for the common good’ (2013, p.119). Through their advocacy,
women in Kiribati encourage open dialogue in their communities and internationally to
catalyse progress on mitigation and adaptation measures.
Resurrección (2013, p.41) asserts that ‘the discourse of climate change vulnerability has
19proven to be a strategic entry point for feminist advocacy’. By using the somewhat
simplistic framing of women as disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate
change, advocates have found a way to engage policy makers and institutions. Positioning
women as uniquely and intrinsically linked to nature, opens a space to insert discussions
on feminist issues within the climate change movement. This degree project moves
beyond that narrative, drawing on feminist theory as a lens to examine climate action
advocacy and agency amongst Kiribati women.
Another theory which informs this study is WED, a theory that grew out of early debates
about the earth’s limited resources and women’s roles in sustainable development
(Salazar, 2000). The theory positions ‘women as having a 'special' relationship with the
environment, as its users or ‘managers’’ (Leach et al, 1995, p.1). Further, the thesis ties
into the theory of WCD, that places women at the centre of development, bringing
‘women’s agency into the foreground … as a means for understanding how inequalities
are challenged and reproduced’ (Bhavnani et al, 2016, p.36). Bhavnani et al. explain:
women in the Third World face multiple challenges, among them poverty,
unemployment, limited access to land, legal and social discrimination in many forms,
sexual abuse and other forms of violence… But the women of the Third World are not
victims… women in the Third World meet these challenges and confront them actively,
often in remarkably creative and effective ways (2016, p.29).
Finally, the thesis draws on studies that posit storytelling as an indispensable tool for
effective communication and advocacy. It draws on Fischer’s theory of the ‘narrative
paradigm’, which hypothesises that all human beings use narratives to connect with
each other and comprehend the world around them (Qvortrup & Nielsen, 2019). It also
discusses Qvortrup & Nielsen’s interpretation of ‘dwelling narratively’, which asserts that
‘the concept of dwelling provides the means to account for ways in which people care
for or act on the narratives that they themselves have adopted’ (2019, p.143) as well as
ideas from Minks (In Gounder, 2015) and Mould (2011) around narrative as a vehicle for
socialisation and as a tool for interpreting experiences. This study explores the historical
significance of storytelling and analyses how storytelling can be used as a tool for both
perception and policy change.
20Methodology
Methods
This thesis is a qualitative study, using exploratory research. The primary research
method is unstructured interviewing, with a total of five interviews. Due to the
exploratory nature of the research, the thesis is designed to identify emerging issues
for further research, and not to generalize findings. Therefore, a small sample, rich in
qualitative data is appropriate. Guest et al. explain that when using in-depth interviews
as a research method ‘the usefulness of your research findings will be dependent on a
small number of interviews’ (2013, p.121). This means the selection of participants is
important. In this case each of the women were chosen due to their recent active
involvement in climate advocacy locally and globally. The interviews were set up
remotely through online communications technology Facebook Messenger or by
phone, the limitations of which are discussed below.
The interviewees consist of local I-Kiribati women from a variety of fields (from
education and policy-making to community mobilization) and with a range of different
advocacy roles from campaigning on an international scale to education and awareness
raising at a local level. The interviews took place between November 2019 and March
2020 on Facebook messenger and through international voice calls. They took on
average 45 to 60 minutes, and included a series of questions (see Appendix 1 – Interview
Guide) focused on the following areas:
• The interviewee’s lived experience in Kiribati, and any significant changes in
environment and climate noted over the years.
• First-hand stories the interviewee was willing to share on how climate
change has affected their life.
• The interviewee’s involvement in climate actions and climate change advocacy
groups or roles.
21• The role of women in Kiribati and how being a woman has influenced the
interviewees’ perspective on climate change and approach to advocacy.
• The hopes and aspirations of the interviewee regarding the impact of their
advocacy efforts on climate action locally and transnationally.
• The role of storytelling in Kiribati.
Informed consent was obtained from each of the interviewees at the start of the
interviews, and each were offered the option of remaining anonymous. Ultimately, all of
the women gave permission for their names to be used in the study. Each interview was
transcribed in full to allow for comprehensive analysis.
Limitations
Through the initial stages of research and setting up the logistics for the fieldwork
element of the project, several challenges arose. One of the major challenges was in
framing the research and trying to avoid falling into common themes and discourses
on women and climate change. As discussed above, one of the most dominant themes
in research on this area is the vulnerability of women and the burdens they bear from
environmental impacts of climate change. These discourses centre on women as ‘the
unrecognised caretakers of the environment, and in whose care the earth and its
resources had better chances of surviving for future generations’ (Resurrección, 2013,
p.34).
MacGregor points out that ‘woman as victim’ is a discursive trap that even those who
wish to advocate on behalf of the rights and interests of women may unwittingly fall
into’ (2010, p.232). Being cognisant of this prominent discourse was important during
the research process, but equally important was recognising that women’s agency and
vulnerability are inextricably linked. It was therefore necessary to study existing works
on the vulnerability of women to climate change and listen objectively to the elements
22of vulnerability experienced or acknowledged by the interviewees. This allowed me to
then shift the focus of the thesis to women’s agency and the way they use that agency
to advocate for climate action in Kiribati. From what I could determine within the
boundaries of my literature review, the phenomenon seems to be less well documented
despite the fact that, as Charan et al. highlight, ‘women play significant roles in all stages
of disaster and climate risk management and are often the first to respond’ (2016,
p.107).
As a white female researcher from the global north, I was conscious of the potential for
my studies to misrepresent the views of the interviewees. My background, along with
my work with a major United Nations agency has framed the way I think about issues of
gender and climate change. Being aware of this bias and embarking on this research
with the intention to listen actively and not to assign value to different theories until my
data collection was complete, helped me to analyse the data from a more objective
standpoint. My intention is to allow the interviewees voices and stories to speak as
much as possible in the findings section below. It is my hope that this thesis will be a
resource of qualitative data to inform further research into the role of women in climate
change advocacy around the world.
Remote interviewing
The other key challenge in this research was the need to do interviews remotely due to
the location of the interviewees. Face-to-face interviews would have been most
productive for this research, allowing the interpretation of both verbal and non-verbal
cues, but distance made travel impossible. Adding to the challenge, internet and phone
coverage in Kiribati is patchy and unreliable. Reading about ways in which other
researchers have dealt with the issues that arose through the process helped to navigate
this challenge.
Remote interviewing has both positive and negative elements. On the positive side
Walliman notes ‘telephone interviews avoid the necessity of travelling to the respondents
23and can therefore be carried out more quickly than face to face’ (2018). It also ‘allows
researchers to transcend geographical boundaries, by nullifying distances’ (Lo Iacono et
al., 2016, p.5). In studying the intersection of gender and climate change, having direct
access to interviewees from Kiribati, one of the countries most affected by climate change
in the world, was of immense value. The immediacy of phone calls also allows for more
flexibility for the participants and for scheduling across different time zones. On the negative
side, remote interviewing means a lack of visual cues such as facial expressions and
gestures (Walliman, 2018), making it more difficult for the conversation to flow naturally.
This turned out to be less of a problem than anticipated, as most of the interviewees were
relaxed and comfortable being interviewed, and many had prior experience with media
and researchers.
In starting the fieldwork, the most difficult roadblock seemed likely to come from
connectivity issues that would cause phone or internet lines to cut out and interviewees
to be difficult to hear and thus transcribe. Due to the nature of the internet in Kiribati,
scheduling was difficult, but once each of the interviews was set up, connection issues
proved to be a barrier that was easy to overcome. Besides creating a slightly more
difficult transcription process, the connections were clear enough to complete the
interviews with ease. The benefits of reaching interviewees with such rich experiences
and stories, made these challenges well worth the effort.
Five female I-Kiribati climate advocates
Before delving into my research findings, let me introduce you to the five inspiring and
motivated women who participated in this study.
Claire is 41 and currently works for the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World
Bank on a project called ‘South Tarawa Water Supply’ that supplies taps to each
household on South Tarawa to give them access to desalinated water. She has been a
climate change advocate since 2007, when she represented Kiribati at the UNFCCC
Conference of the Parties (COP) in Bali. The conference inspired her to take further action
24and in 2010 she teamed up with Pelenise and another colleague to establish Kiribati
Climate Action Network (KiriCAN), an NGO devoted to addressing climate change issues.
‘We are the first organisation that was established in Kiribati that works on the impacts of
climate change and advocacy,’ she explains:
When there is a consultation about climate change, we are the first NGO that are invited
by the government, invited by the World Bank and ADB asking for advice and what we
have been doing and what are the stories that they need to know.
Lucy is 48 and works for the Kiribati Teacher’s College. She worked at the Teacher’s
College as one of the teachers up until 2014, before taking on the position of Principal.
Later she left that position to join the Ministry of Education and to work with Kiribati
Education Improvement Program (KEIP), before returning to the Teacher’s College. She
carries out most of her advocacy through education, which she believes is crucial for
raising awareness among future generations. She also helped set up a teacher training
programme called ‘Teaching Climate Change’, that develops the capacity of teachers
throughout Kiribati to educate their students on climate change issues. Her work ‘is about
changing the mindset of our people. And if that can change at a young level, there will be
some future advocates of climate change as well’.
Pelenise, 58, works at the University of the South Pacific (USP), and is one of the founders
and the national coordinator of KiriCAN and the country manager of the Live and Learn
environmental education programme. The two NGOs are in partnership and are both
based in Kiribati. The site of the KiriCAN office is unique, in that Pelenise and her
colleagues have turned it into an adaptation site to test climate change adaptation
strategies. For example, they are working with groups from the US and the UK to
construct floating islands or houses, to demonstrate that it is possible to adapt and
survive on vulnerable lands. Pelenise has been a climate action advocate since 2008 both
locally through these organisations and internationally at COP conferences and with other
international climate change organisations. She says, ‘we are advocating because we feel
there is a need for the international community to hear our voices in Kiribati … our work
in Kiribati is really on adaptation, our work internationally is on advocacy for mitigation’.
25Tessie is 48 years old and the former secretary for foreign affairs under Anote Tong’s
administration. She was instrumental in his team during the launch of his extensive
international climate change campaign. She acted as a spokesperson for the government
of Kiribati, representing them at many international meetings and conferences on climate
change. Her motivation for advocating for climate action was:
talking to leaders and trying to convince the people to, I guess just to raise awareness of
our situation at the beginning. Because nobody knew about Kiribati, nobody knew we
existed and nobody was focusing on the plight of our people and the people of the
pacific.
Vasiti is 29 years old and has been advocating for over a decade on climate change issues
both at a local level and at several international conferences. She studied nutrition and
runs a health-based NGO alongside her advocacy activities. She started advocating locally
with clean-up campaigns, and planting mangroves for foreshore stabilisation and erosion
control, as well as educating local children on climate change issues. In 2013 she attended
the COP in Germany to represent Kiribati and later went to Australia to attend a meeting
of the Australia Pacific Climate Partnership. The advocacy strategy she and others used at
overseas meetings was simple and powerful: ‘we lobbied the government by simply
telling our stories’.
Each of these women demonstrates ways they use their agency to empower their
communities, make significant changes locally and highlight the plight of Kiribati on the
international stage. Below, I will analyse their stories as data in order to address the
study’s two research questions:
1. ‘How are I-Kiribati women advocating for climate action?’
2. ‘What impact do the I-Kiribati women mobilized for climate action hope their
voices and stories will have locally and transnationally?’
26Research Findings/Analysis
Through the wealth of data provided during the interviews, five major themes emerged
as common threads linking each woman’s experience. These themes were: changing
environment as a catalyst for advocacy; the intersection of vulnerability and agency;
shifting gender roles and emerging voices; resilient women as change agents; and
storytelling as an advocacy tool. Below each of these themes is unpacked using the data
collected from the interviews.
Changing environment as a catalyst for advocacy
Each of the interviewees discussed the ways in which they themselves or fellow locals
have noticed significant changes in their lived environment caused by climate change.
Lucy explained the shift from predictable to unpredictable weather patterns saying,
‘before we used to have two main seasons, the wet season and the dry season. So, we
would have months when it is dry and then also months, or times of the year where it is
wet, and that’s when we have a lot of rain. But now it’s unstable’. Tessie gave an example
of this instability saying ‘about over a year ago we had a long dry spell, and then we had
rain for months’. Unpredictable weather patterns have been well-documented in the
Pacific as one of the effects of climate change. This unpredictable weather, along with
changes in sea levels and tidal patterns, has created problems such as coastal erosion.
Tessie has experienced this first hand, she explains ‘all I-Kiribati have beachfront
properties … the coastal erosion has come very close. It has eroded about two rows of
trees and it is getting very close to our house’.
King tides have become a major problem in Kiribati (see Figure 4). With much of the
island sitting merely one or two metres above sea level, many of the houses and
community buildings are now subject to inundation. The interviewees discussed the
damage done by king tides in their communities, which for many has resulted in
relocation. This is particularly an issue for vulnerable populations such as those who live
in swampy areas. ‘They are the first ones to feel the impact of any rise in sea level,’ says
27Tessie. She recounted an experience of a particular affected village she works with,
saying:
the whole village has to move back from where it was and the only thing that is left is
the church. The church is like now literally on the beach. We are getting more high tides
than normal and so the church will be flooded with the sea.
Figure 4: The high-tide breaches a seawall in Tarawa Kiribati. Credit: Dael Allison/2015
One of the most significant issues caused by king tides is pollution of the local water
sources. Vasiti noted the changes in availability of water due to the salination of the
water lens in Kiribati, ‘when I was a young girl we used to drink from the well water, from
the ground water. Nowadays, we no longer do that anymore, it is risky because the water
is now contaminated’. Traditionally, most of the fresh water for drinking in Kiribati was
sourced from the underground fresh water lens but sea level rises and king tides have
seen salt water seep into this water source. This has resulted in a rise in diarrhoeal
diseases, as some families are forced to drink the contaminated water. Many
communities now depend on rain water tanks or centralised desalinated water, but these
28sources can be unreliable at times too. ‘Rainwater is our other source of water, but if it
doesn’t rain for a long time, then we don’t have any other option,’ says Tessie.
The water issues in Kiribati are, therefore, exacerbated by drought. Tessie explains ‘we
have more problems with water if we have a long dry spell. All the well waters get
brackish and unfit for drinking. So, on the atolls it is critical, the water issue is critical in
terms of the climate change impact’. Salination is not only a problem for the fresh water
sources in Kiribati, it is also affecting the soil. Vasiti, who studied and works in nutrition,
discussed the effects of salination in the soil on local crops and as a result on the nutrition
of the population. ‘The soil on the island is infertile already, but with the challenges we
are facing – the increasing temperature, the salination of water that is coming on land – it
is getting more challenging,’ she says. ‘It affects our livelihood, our plants and our food
crops’.
As the experiences of climate change are shared by the vast majority of people in Kiribati,
the women have been able to use this commonality as an advocacy tool. Claire outlines
this approach in her community advocacy, saying ‘instead of telling them, this is climate
change, we went out there and said: “Did you notice any changes in your surroundings, in
your island?” And most of the islanders, they all said that they do notice something’. By
sharing stories and listening to the stories of their communities, the interviewees seek to
start more constructive dialogues and inspire action. In the end, as Vasiti explains, they
are all humans sharing common hopes and fears:
It scares us. And at that point, like in Tarawa we can stand at one point, you look at your
right side it’s an ocean, but when you look at your left side it’s a lagoon side. The water
is around you everywhere. So, when it is getting to rise and rise, yeah it scares us.
She sees the solution in connecting with the population through shared experiences and
educating them on climate change issues. ‘If we keep educating our people their mindset
will be different,’ she says.
Differences of experiences in Kiribati compared to other countries have fuelled some of
the transnational advocacy efforts of the women. Tessie expressed frustration with one-
29size-fits-all approach discussed on a global scale for adaptation, as many of the measures
are not viable in Kiribati. She explains:
We had no choice but to adapt to the changes that are happening to our country and
affecting our people. We had no choice. But the traditional adaptation measures, they
don’t work for Kiribati. Because the first thing you have to do is move away from the coast.
If we move from one end of the island, one coast, there is really not enough space in the
middle to move so far away from the coast that you will be protected, you won’t feel the
impact of the sea level rise. So that doesn’t work for us. The second one says you have to
move to higher ground, we don’t have higher ground. So that doesn’t work for us. So, the
adaptation measures that the scientists were recommending to people they don’t work
for Kiribati.
Frustration also stems from the different priorities of developed nations, as Pelenise
points out:
we need to keep global warming at 1.5 degrees. That’s our ask, we have been asking for
that. And the developed countries say no, maybe we can increase it to two, give us a
limit to reach too, maybe we can survive with two. But the small island states cannot
survive with two, we will be under water with two. So, we continue to advocate for 1.5
degrees.
Faced with a plethora of environmental challenges, women in Kiribati are very active in
not only advocating for climate action but getting involved in adaptation and mitigation
strategies. The five interviewees advocate for climate action through different avenues
from government advocacy and educational programmes, to setting up NGOs and
attending international climate conferences, their wealth of experience communicating
with local and international audiences is demonstrated clearly. So, what impact do the
interviewees hope their advocacy efforts will have?
Pelenise elucidates:
our aim is really to build resilient people, resilient communities. That is what we want.
And for our people not to leave Kiribati or our islands. To make sure that the adaptation
is strong, and the people understand their roles and they remain in Kiribati. And no I-
Kiribati should be removed or leave Kiribati because of a problem with climate change.
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