Climate Change as Ecocide: A Zemiological and Social Policy Analysis of the Climate Vulnerable Forum’s Climate Diplomacy

We explore how the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) approaches climate change as ecocide. Premised upon a joined-up zemiological and social policy (‘What's the Problem Represented to Be?’) approach, our work undertakes a thematic analysis of CVF documents to unpack representations of climate change as ecocide and their links to the CVF’s climate diplomacy. We differentiate between climate change as ecocide-as-law and climate change as ecocide-as-harm to capture both dimensions of the evolving scholarly debate on representations of climate change as ecocide and dissect the CVFs’ climate priorities. Our findings show that the CVF approaches climate change mainly as ecocide-as-harm. The quest for climate justice lies at the center of CVF representations of climate change as ecocide, informing the CVF’s climate diplomatic compass with funding to rectify loss and damage, technology and capacity transfer, ambition raising and a just transition emerging as fundamental means to redress this climate injustice. While climate change is associated with vulnerable states’ breach of sovereignty and human rights, the CVF falls short of conceptualizing climate change as ecocide-as-law and advocating for a law of ecocide. Our work is the first to apply a criminological and social policy lens and conduct empirical research in the CVF climate diplomacy, thus adding to the breadth and depth of criminological and policy-focused climate change scholarship in the Global South and contributing fresh insights regarding the CVF’s climate standing.