Global discourses on climate change have significantly shaped how climate change

is viewed as a problem and issue to be governed. This article discusses the role of

policy narratives and expertise in the rendering of climate change governable in the

so-called least-developed countries (LDCs). The main arguments are illustrated

with examples from Cambodia. There are 3 key findings. First, climate change

policy narratives are an important product and driver of the shifting rationalities

of government with respect to adaptation and mitigation. In the case of

Cambodia, policy narratives of donors have dominated, but have also been coopted

by national government. Second, most responses to climate change are

framed in technical terms that draw on expert knowledge, tools and technologies.

In Cambodia, mitigation has been viewed through the currency of carbon credits,

as in clean development mechanism projects, that downplay other ecosystems

and values as well as the livelihood dimensions of intervention projects. Third,

the combination of donor-driven policy narratives and expert technologies is

potent: it strongly depoliticizes climate change as an issue rendering it more

easily governable through existing bureaucratic planning processes and without

challenging the current structures of political economy. In Cambodia,

opportunities for meaningful public engagement in shaping national responses to

climate change remain limited despite significant opportunities for

complementarities with sustainable development policies and concerns with

adverse impacts and trade-offs associated with large-scale projects.