Techera, Erika J. --- "Climate change, legal governance and the Pacific Islands: an overview" [2013] ELECD 251; in Abate, S. Randall; Kronk, Ann Elizabeth (eds), "Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) 339

Book Title: Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples

Editor(s): Abate, S. Randall; Kronk, Ann Elizabeth

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781001790

Section: Chapter 16

Section Title: Climate change, legal governance and the Pacific Islands: an overview

Author(s): Techera, Erika J.

Number of pages: 24

Abstract/Description:

This chapter provides an introduction to some of the climate change related challenges facing the nations and peoples of the Pacific Island region. Subsequent chapters in this section will discuss the impacts and legal issues in specific Pacific Island nations in more detail. Before exploring the impacts of climate change on the Pacific Island nations, it is necessary to provide some background on the region and the people who live there. The Pacific Island region includes 22 countries and dependent territories. All of these states and territories are comprised of islands but they vary greatly in size and type. For example, there are approximately 200 high islands and 2,500 low islands and atolls. Although the total land area is small at about 90,000 km2, these islands cover a large expanse of ocean with Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) totalling over 27 million km2. The total population of the region is less than 10 million, with Papua New Guinea alone contributing over 6 million.