Rendering climate change governable in the least-developed countries: Policy narratives and expert technologies in Cambodia

Abstract

© 2014 Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). Global discourses on climate change have significantly shaped how climate change is viewed as a problem and issue to be governed. This article discusses the role of policy narratives and expertise in the rendering of climate change governable in the so-called least-developed countries (LDCs). The main arguments are illustrated with examples from Cambodia. There are 3 key findings. First, climate change policy narratives are an important product and driver of the shifting rationalities of government with respect to adaptation and mitigation. In the case of Cambodia, policy narratives of donors have dominated, but have also been co-opted by national government. Second, most responses to climate change are framed in technical terms that draw on expert knowledge, tools and technologies. In Cambodia, mitigation has been viewed through the currency of carbon credits, as in clean development mechanism projects, that downplay other ecosystems and values as well as the livelihood dimensions of intervention projects. Third, the combination of donor-driven policy narratives and expert technologies is potent: it strongly depoliticizes climate change as an issue rendering it more easily governable through existing bureaucratic planning processes and without challenging the current structures of political economy. In Cambodia, opportunities for meaningful public engagement in shaping national responses to climate change remain limited despite significant opportunities for complementarities with sustainable development policies and concerns with adverse impacts and trade-offs associated with large-scale projects.