There Once Was an Island: Bringing Southern Pacific Perspectives to the Climate Change Conversation (original) (raw)
Related papers
New Zealand Geographer, 2019
This book series addresses a timely and significant set of issues emergent from the study of Environmental [sometimes referred to as "natural"] disasters and the Series will also embrace works on Human-produced disasters (including both environmental and social impacts, e.g., migrations and displacements of humans). Topics such as climate change; social conflicts that result from forced resettlement processes eventuating from environmental alterations, e.g., desertification shoreline loss, sinking islands, rising seas.
Social and cultural issues raised by climate change in Pacific Island countries: an overview
Climate-related disasters such as tropical cyclones, floods and droughts are not new to Pacific Islanders, who have developed customary or " traditional " practices to enable communities to adapt to and recover from such hazards. Some of these practices have been degraded and some assisted by modernisation. Through their effects on the island environment, these hazards have a range of socioeconomic impacts on food (fisheries and crops) and water supply, tourism, and coastal buildings and infrastructure. The varied impacts of climate change not only exacerbate those hazards but also raise new threats, such as sea level rise and ocean acidification, that have no precedent in the past 500 years, and for which there are therefore no traditional adaptations, although Pacific innate ingenuity and resilience remains strong. These issues are particularly acute for the low-lying atoll countries whose continued existence is threatened by sea level rise, but also affect those that live on higher islands in coastal settlements, where most of their population is concentrated. Climate change thus sharpens social and cultural issues of equity (reflecting disparities in location, income, education, gender, health, age) , made even more acute by increased levels of voluntary or forced migration within, and even more so beyond, island country boundaries. Consequently, many islanders see climate change as a moral challenge to the richer countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions that are causing the problem.
Sustainability
The saltwater people of Solomon Islands are often portrayed to be at the frontline of climate change. In media, policy, and development discourses, the erosion and abandonment of the small, man-made islands along the coast of Malaita is attributed to climate change induced sea-level rise. This paper investigates this sinking islands narrative, and argues that a narrow focus on the projected impacts of climate change distracts attention and resources from more pressing environmental and development problems that are threatening rural livelihoods.
Climate change and sea level rise are no longer a future phenomenon; they are taking place now and require more concerted effort. The situation in the Pacific Islands is even more serious because even though these small islands have done little to cause the problem and can do little to address it, they will be the first victims. Furthermore, the options for these islands are restricted by their small sizes and lack of resources. However, Pacific Islanders have extensive experience living in these small islands for generations and can offer worthwhile lessons on how to address climate change and sea level rise. In this paper, we examine some options for addressing the phenomenon in the Pacific Islands. A strategy for addressing the challenges of living in a world affected by climate change and sea level rise will be unveiled. As always, innovation and good plans and strategies will influence in the ability of Pacific Islands to address this problem. Addressing climate change and sea ...
Climate Justice: a Pacific Island perspective
Australian Journal of Human Rights, 2021
The negative effects of climate change disproportionately impact Pacific Island nations. Although Pacific Nations contribute the least to climate change compared to other nations, they are the most impacted by rising sea levels. These negative effects can see nations within the region completely submerged or uninhabitable. This article highlights how the Pacific Island diaspora in Australia are acting in solidarity with their homelands in the fight for climate justice. Although Pacific Island diasporic groups have moved away from their (Mother)land, they are still emotionally, mentally and spiritually connected to her. Many Pacific Islanders in the Australian diaspora are passionate and determined to ensure the survival of their Island (Mother)land. Given the lack of information on climate change from Pacific Island perspectives, it is envisioned that this article will bring awareness to climate change issues from Pacific people. The voices of two Samoan activists who were raised in Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia combine to tell this story.
Disappearance and Development: Climate Change and Migration in the South Pacific
2016
How sustainable are current migration and refugee policies in the South Pacific? And how is climate change influencing the discursive politics of South Pacific nations? In the context of Anthropogenic climate change, the increasingly pressing crisis of migration from small island developing states in the South Pacific inspires discourses of securitization, sustainability and climate justice. This paper traces the conflicted usage of the term " climate refugees " into the recent history of Tuvaluan and Carteret Islander migrations in order to contextualize the question of human responses to climate change. Although tiny in geography and population, small island nations are a clearest contemporary frontier where issues of climate change and forced migration meet as entire populations consider the possibility of displacement. The paper also briefly compares policies in Australia and New Zealand to those proposed by climate justice. Each country presents distinct opportunities and challenges for any prospective migration policy. Inspired by the growing recognition of developed countries in Anthropogenic climate change, theories of climate justice provide a framework for evaluating these transnational policies in the context of global addresses to environmental crisis and change. Even in the most ideal or " open " situations, climate justice comes into conflict with economically-driven immigration policies.
2012
Scientific predictions of climate change that place small islands 'at risk' from sea-level rise and an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme climatic events are well accepted by Small Island States. This paper discusses responses to climate change discourse on Moch Island, a coral atoll in the Mortlock Islands of Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia. We examine climate change discourse in terms of how it contributes to the constitution of 'risky environments', and focus on how the concept of 'risk' contributes to the way that people currently engage with and understand their island places. Whilst a past history of human resourcefulness in response to social and environmental change in the Pacific is well documented in the literature, the contemporary discourse of climate change introduces a notion of risk that stifles people's agency and trust in the effectiveness of their own knowledge and practices.