Small state, big voice : Gambia’s climate diplomacy and her symbolic power in United Nations climate negotiations (2018–2025)

Abstract

The study examines how The Gambia gains symbolic power within the global climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Beyond the materialist understanding of influence based on economic and geopolitical power, the study takes a constructivist and discourse-driven approach to understand the role of legitimacy, norms, and recognition in shaping influence within a norm-based institutional context. Based on Bourdieu’s notion of symbolic power, the study examines the mechanisms by which a small state with limited means and material resources can build symbolic influence through the strategic arrangement of the climate discourse. The study uses strategic mobilization of climate discourse as the strategy through which symbolic power is gained. The study adopts a qualitative case study design and discourse analysis to analyse the official climate policy and diplomatic documents produced by The Gambia in the post-Paris Agreement period (2018-2025). The materials analysed are Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), adaptation communications, National Communications, National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), climate policy frameworks, diplomatic statements, and climate finance discussions. The findings reveal that Gambia symbolic power is gained through five interrelated discursive processes: vulnerability framing, normative alignment, policy ambition, structural constraints framing, and financial dependency framing. These discursive practices help construct legitimacy, enhance recognition, and shape how The Gambia’s claims are interpreted within climate negotiations. The study demonstrates that influence in climate diplomacy can be constructed through discourse and normative resonance, rather than material leverage alone. The study contributes to International Relations and climate diplomacy scholarship by providing a process-oriented understanding of symbolic power through strategic mobilisation of climate discourse and the agency of small states within global climate governance.