The Earth’s natural systems have evolved over billions of years to support the life we live today. Yet, the Earth’s innate ability to sustain the ecosystem is taken for granted. This research...Show moreThe Earth’s natural systems have evolved over billions of years to support the life we live today. Yet, the Earth’s innate ability to sustain the ecosystem is taken for granted. This research addresses on arguably the most ubiquitous issue to penetrate all aspects of the human experience – climate change. The omnipresent nature of climate change presents the challenge of approaching the issue: where does one begin? The discursive history of climate change can reveal where the current position stands, and how it may proceed in the future. The transformations in the conceptualization of climate change, including its evolutionary discourse, reveals humankind’s normative relationship with the Earth. This research aims to explore the evolution of climate discourse on an international level through a qualitative discourse analysis. It compares two important landmarks in the climate regime: the Kyoto Protocol of 1998 and the Paris Agreements in 2015. Through a coding scheme based on three discourse strands—national climate security frame, international climate security frame, and human security frame—this research uncovers that there has been a significant increase in the prominence of human security frame and international climate security framing in the Paris Agreement since the Kyoto Protocol of 1998. This is due to the increased inclusivity of international cooperation and informed awareness of the pervasive impacts on human welfare. The findings of this study contribute towards the evermore relevant and urgent field of green diplomacy and its discursive practice in policies. It surfaces normative assumptions and ideas held by the international community towards the climate threat and their strategies to combat it.Show less
