Abstract
Pacific leaders have declared climate change as the biggest threat to their region. For instance, the Government of Fiji has identified 830 communities which are at risk due to climate change. Community-based climate change adaptation (CBA) is regarded as an approach which can effectively and sustainably help people cope with the adverse impacts of climate change. At the same time, it is increasingly recognised that climate change adaptation cannot be considered in isolation from other sustainable development efforts. Thus, at the local level, no clear line of distinction can be drawn between CBA initiatives and other types of community-based development initiatives. In the context of peripheral outer islands in the Pacific, little has so far been understood about what makes and what breaks CBA and related local development initiatives. In response to this research gap, this thesis conducts a holistic investigation of the factors which drive and hinder CBA initiatives on Pacific outer islands. The study objectives are to understand community-internal factors, community-external factors, and how these factors are interrelated. Focusing on outer islands in Fiji, field-based qualitative research will be conducted with a range of local people of diverse backgrounds in different outer island communities. Research findings can hopefully provide recommendations for climate change adaptation and development policies and practices from the local level up to the national level in Fiji. These findings and recommendations could be useful for other outer islands in the Pacific and beyond.