Publication

Small island states were able to obtain some remarkable achievements in the climate change negotiations by building a cohesive coalition, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). Yet, this cohesiveness – a key strength of the Alliance – has come under stress by a growing fragmentation of the UNFCCC regime. To explore this problem in detail, this paper compares the activities and positions of AOSIS as a group and of individual AOSIS members over three distinct periods in the climate change regime. It concludes that fragmentation has negatively affected the Alliance.