The impact of climate disasters on the securitization of the Global Environmental Agenda in Oceania | O impacto dos desastres climáticos na securitização da Agenda Ambiental Global na Oceania

Abstract

This article examines how extreme climate disasters influence the securitization of climate change in Oceania through a comparative analysis of Cyclone Winston in Fiji (2016) and the Australian bushfires of 2019–2020. Grounded in the Copenhagen School’s Securitization Theory (Buzan, Wæver & de Wilde, 1998) and Kingdon’s concept of policy windows (Kingdon, 1995), the authors of the study argue that disasters function as empirical catalysts capable of shifting climate change from the sphere of environmental governance to the realm of security politics. The methodology combines comparative case studies and content analysis. The findings demonstrate that climate securitization assumes distinct forms according to states’ positions within the international system: Fiji mobilizes an existential grammar focused on survival and international climate finance, whereas Australia prioritizes militarized responses centered on national security. The article concludes that climate securitization is contingent and unequal.