Mapping the little red dot's advocacy for Small Island Developing States (SIDS)

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the central role of Singapore, as a Small Island Developing States (SIDS) country, in formulating, implementing and advocating for international environmental policy for the period of 1992 to 2019. This study uses qualitative interpretive/ hermeneutic phenomenological analysis to explore the policy-related documents and opinions gathered by members of the policymaking and research community, at the international and domestic level, to understand how their collaboration changed the culture of policy negotiation, policy formulation, and policy implementation in environmental policy. The research investigates how United Nations Member States (UNMS) adopt and implement international environmental policy documents in their own countries from 1992 to 2019. The investigation traced a change over time in participation trends, policy documents, and outcomes to examine a general complex set of factors surrounding a central phenomenon. The research contributes to adaptation-centric literature on environmental policy. In filling gaps in the existing literature, this dissertation highlights the policy negotiation, policy formulation, and policy implementation of SIDS countries regarding the transition from international to national environmental policy. Additionally, few studies have looked at the role of Singapore in SIDS environmental policymaking. By focusing on Singapore's policy documents and interviews with Singaporean and UN representatives, these research findings highlight the importance of mitigation strategy, sustainable financing, training, capacity building in Singapore's environmental policy initiatives, and the country's unique role as a SIDS advocate in international environmental policy. The social constructivist worldview elucidates the understanding of Singapore's environmental policy through a narrative lens that unfolds through interviews with Singaporean-centric representatives, practitioners, and experts. The policy feedback theory allows for investigating Singapore's environmental policy from a domestic, regional and international perspective, looking at how the policies serve as institutions that control policy change. The research distinguishes past, current, and future trends in international environmental policy and informs of the evolution of Singapore's environmental policy regarding what their priorities were, currently are, and will be. The research outcome identifies emerging trends in international environmental policy research and serves as a strong basis for future research, particularly for SIDS countries.--Author's abstract