Vanuatu’s former PM fears that the Pacific is now out of time and will succumb to climate change, an existential threat that affects the livelihoods, security, and well-being of Pacific islanders
Category: Opinion
In 1991, tiny Vanuatu already nailed the climate conversation
More than 30 years since Vanuatu raised the question “Who should pay for climate catastrophe?”, the issue of irreversible “loss and damage” from the climate crisis is set to be one of the central issues at COP27
The climate crisis threatens to rob us not just of our living, but also of our dead
When atoll nations are told that they may have to leave due to rising seas, I think of their fathers’ and mothers’ bones. Climate crisis threatens Pacific island nations – they rob us not just of the living, but also of our dead, writes Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson.
If we protect it, the ocean can help solve the climate crisis
The ocean plays a vital role in moderating global temperatures and countries should use it as a major tool to fight climate change, writes Fiji PM Frank Bainimarama
How do we mourn an island? Where do we mark its grave?
Marshall Islands is uniquely at risk for climate change, islets are disappearing, and it is so dire that we’ve been forced as a nation to completely change the way we plan for our future, writes Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner.
No more drinking water, little food: our island is a field of bones
Banaba in the central Pacific is a microcosm of what has happened to this planet. It’s a place that cannot be brought back into balance without focused and collaborative care, writes Katerina Teaiwa
On Guam there is no birdsong, you cannot imagine the trauma of a silent island
Climate change, invasive species and military expansion have formed an unholy trinity that threatens our small but ancient civilization on the island of Guam, writes Julian Aguon
In my house is a Tuvaluan basket, a tiny piece of an island the world cannot fail
I will never throw away this basket from Tuvalu, an island nation that could become completely uninhabitable and disappear under the sea in the terrifyingly near future, writes Kate Lyons
Four ways we can keep Accelerating Climate Change Financing in the Pacific
There is a critical need to boost climate finance in the Pacific, as the window for taking transformative action is closing, writes ADB Pacific Senior Climate Change Specialist
The Pacific’s future: ‘It’s either rats or reefs’
Invasive species are driving biodiversity loss in the Pacific. Island nations can fight them if the world helps increase investment in managing invasive species, writes SPREP Director General