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The Drive for Sustainability

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The Drive for Sustainability THE DRIVE FOR SUSTAINABILITY An Exploration of the Private Sector’s Role in Assisting Sustainable Development in the Smaller Island States of the Pacific A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) by Thomas Hessellund Gillman National Centre for Research on Europe University of Canterbury Aotearoa/New Zealand 2019 ABSTRACT Humanity has constantly searched for and created theories which explain and guide the pursuit of a better life, a more equal global system and a method through which to live a fulfilling existence. These ambitions have culminated in the theory of sustainable development – the guiding principles of which are the deep and equal incorporation into actions and lifestyles of three pillars; society, economy and environment. These guiding principles have provided a holistic guide to developmental actions as well as having proven central to framing global agreements such as the Sustainable Development Goals. However, while it may be a prominent theory, it is also contested. This is not only within the academic realm by theorists such as the post-developmentalists, but also in reality through the omnipresent climatic issues which threaten the world today. Furthermore, humanity has a right to development, to not only live a fulfilling life but to also benefit from the process which enables this as well – and global societies and institutions have an obligation to enable this right, especially in light of pressing concerns such as climate change. It is within this context of sustainable development, framed by the need to uphold the right to development and to overcome global issues such as climate change, that the thesis has its roots. With this in mind, it has explored the way in which traditional actors within sustainable development processes have engaged in development in order to understand how these actors could be more effective in their engagement so as to work towards enabling the realisation of the right to development and the mitigation of issues such as climate change. However, given the strong critique of the traditional development methods by, for example, the post-development theorists, this thesis has explored the role of an actor which has recently become more prominent within sustainable development - the private sector - in order to make a more incisive contribution to this field. In short, it has sought to understand the potential role of the private sector in increasing the effectiveness of sustainable development processes. In order to test this, the thesis has focussed on a region which is heavily threatened by climatic concerns - the Pacific. Within the Pacific, there is a grouping of states - the Smaller Island States (SIS) - that feel they need a stronger voice in order to overcome climate change and achieve their sustainable development goals. It is this grouping that the thesis has focussed on in order to understand whether sustainable development can be successful within a complex and time pressured developmental context. However, there has been little research into this regional grouping and thus there is limited knowledge as to the role that the private sector could play in enabling further development of a sustainable nature in SIS. Given this, the thesis has analysed this situation through firstly creating an analytical framework, which not only draws on existing sustainable development literature, but also goes further to incorporate new concepts that the thesis has created, such as reciprocal duality. This framework is then used to analyse the 2 effectiveness of the traditional, or status quo, processes of sustainable development. It then reports on a case study focussing on one aspect of the private sector - tourism - to test the potential of the private sector within the SIS. Tourism was chosen because within the SIS, tourism is one of the key actors within the private sector. The thesis concludes that whilst the private sector can play a positive role in making sustainable development more effective, it will be difficult to achieve or less effective, if actors are engaged for geo-political or self-centred reasons rather than altruistic and development- centred reasons. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to my senior supervisor Katharine Vadura. Without her constant guidance, support, motivation, and positive outlook, this thesis would not be what it is today. I would also like to thank Martin Holland, not only for his guidance and comments, but also for his support. Thanks must also go to those involved in the interviews for kindly offering their time and expertise to this project. It has added a huge amount of value and I am deeply thankful and humbled by their involvement. I would also like to thank Keleigh Coldron who was employed to proofread this thesis. Her guidance and assistance have been greatly appreciated in enhancing the clarity of the thesis. To my friends, I cannot say thank you enough for the aroha and support that you have provided, it has been very much appreciated. Finally, and most importantly, to my family. This project has been enabled because of you and is dedicated to you. Thank you for your belief, thank you for your support, thank you for everything. Thomas Gillman, November 2019 4 CONTENTS Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 4 Contents .................................................................................................................................................. 5 Illustrations ............................................................................................................................................. 8 List of Tables ....................................................................................................................................... 8 List of Figures ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Acronyms ................................................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter 1 .............................................................................................................................................. 11 Introduction: Sustainable Development As a Theory to Enable a Right ............................................... 11 Setting the Scene: A Brief History of the Pacific ............................................................................... 13 Sustainable Development: The Literature ........................................................................................ 20 The Current Model of Sustainable Development in the SIS ............................................................. 25 Thesis Overview ................................................................................................................................ 35 Chapter 2 .............................................................................................................................................. 38 Theory, Methods and the Analytical Framework: Building the Thesis ................................................. 38 A Reason for Sustainable Development: The Right to Development and its Obligations ................ 38 The Analytical Framework: The Thesis’s Version of Sustainable Development ............................... 39 Summary: Sustainable Development in this Thesis ...................................................................... 50 Research Methods ............................................................................................................................ 51 Limitations ........................................................................................................................................ 62 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................... 63 Chapter 3 .............................................................................................................................................. 64 Sustainable Development Theory: Formulations and Critiques ........................................................... 64 The Brundtland Report ..................................................................................................................... 64 Critiques of the Brundtland Report .................................................................................................. 66 Sustainable Development: Current Understandings ........................................................................ 67 Immanent and Intentional Development .............................................................................. 68 The Role of Culture in Sustainable Development ................................................................... 71 Strong and Weak Sustainability ............................................................................................ 71 Inter- and Intra-Generational Considerations ........................................................................ 73 Critiques of Development and the Levels of Change Advocated to Overcome Criticism................. 75 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................
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