Climate Change

Climate change is real and it is already affecting the world’s poorest.

We need to act urgently. There's so much we can do to play our part in the fight against global warming. Whether it's lobbying government, big companies or changing our own lifestyles, this is the place you can make a difference.

‘Climate change is clearly a development issue since its adverse effects will disproportionately affect poorer countries.’ European Commission, 2003

The voice of a drowning people: Climate change in the pacific

For the Pacific people, climate change is real and its impact is more advanced than most people realize. Atolls have already disappeared and climate refugees have had to flee the Carteret Atolls in Papau New Guinea and some islands in Kiribati and Vanuatu.

In addition fish stocks are declining as warmer sea currents destroy coral and change fish spawning patterns. Loss of fishing affects food supply, local culture and the economic viability of the small island nations.

If the extreme happens and Pacific Islanders have to relocate, ‘they will enter into a world that is not their own’ says Reverend Tafue Lusana from Tuvalu. ‘ Memory is all the Tuvaluans will have of their homeland. Their burial grounds, their schools, their homes, their churches will be enveloped by the ocean. The Tuvaluans can never go home again’.

Pacific Island nations are now looking to New Zealand and Australia to help get the Pacific voice heard and want international acknowledgement that climate change is real and reassurance that other countries will be prepared to accept environmental refugees.

@world Spring/Summer 2007