Land, Sea, and Us: Planning for Climate Change on The Rock

This paper discusses the impact that climate change will have on Newfoundlanders and their relationship to the land and sea around them, specifically within the Avalon Peninsula (the most eastern section of the island). As an island, Newfoundland will have different climate change concerns than many parts of mainland Canada. I approach these questions of identity, relationship, and climate change through analyzing the relationship Newfoundlanders have to the island by way of ethnographic interviews and a review of literature pertaining to the people and cultures in Newfoundland. Cultural landscape theory is employed to contextualize and understand how Newfoundlanders situate themselves in Newfoundland and relate to the landscape. The impacts of climate change are understood from both the scientific literature on the physical changes associated with climate change, and how these changes will impact the relationship between Newfoundlanders and the island. I employ political ecology to understand the environmental politics at play in Newfoundland in regards to climate change planning at the provincial level. In this paper, I find that climate change planning in Newfoundland is lacking, that change is anticipated but felt to be far off, and that the province of Newfoundland and Labrador’s connection to the oil and gas sector hinders the province’s ability to properly plan for climate change.