ABSTRACT
Overall, the social effects of climate change, and the uncertainties that come with the prognoses made by climate researchers, are a great political challenge for Kiribati as weil as all other island states. The political measures related to these prognoses reach far into the future, and must consider the interests of coming generations. The island states of the Pacific agree on the point that climate change is a serious threat for them, and that industrial nations need to reduce their emissions drastically (McNamara and Gibson 2009: 482). In order to reach this goal and exert pressure primarilyon the countries causing these emissions, diverse alliances and organizations have been created in the Pacific as weil as other areas. The appropriate politics in relation to future seenarios are still under dispute (McNamara and Gibson 2009: 482). While governments of certain island states view international migration as an unacceptable option for their citizens, Kiribati is already taking an active role in negotiations around what Kiribati itself calls programs for climate migration (Bedford and Bedford 2010; Klepp 2012).
