Is the Pacific Doomed?

Growing concerns among the residents and politicians of the Pacific Islands about the harmful and potentially terminal effects of climate change on their populace has led to a summit in Fiji. Last week, islanders met at their last union before the Parisian talks in December to put together the final touches to their collective plea to the nations of the world to save their homes.

Among their demands, the Pacific nations will be clamouring for better protection for their coastlines and homes from rising sea levels – especially in the case of protecting women and children – as well as significant investment in damage prevention measures.

An Unjust Situation

In comparison to the majority of the world’s nations, the amount of carbon emitted by the Pacific islands and their contribution to climate change is negligible. As such, it’s cruelly ironic that they will be among the hardest hit by rising global temperatures, due to their low altitude and archipelagic layout.

For example, the small nation of Tuvalu is considered one of the most at risk due to the fact that all nine of its islands are below 4.5m above sea level. It suffered the violence of Cyclone Pam back in March, which ripped apart homes and buildings with 200mph winds and massive tidal waves. If conditions continue to worsen, the people of Tuvalu fear for their lives from the very real risks of mass flooding.

“People are worried but they want to stay, our priority is to save our country,” explained Satini Tulaga Manuella, the country’s Health Minister. “We say if you save Tuvalu you save the world, because if you bring down emissions enough to save us, the rest of the world will be OK.

“Science is telling politicians in other countries what is happening. So why aren’t they listening? They have to look after their own people but they also have an obligation to the world. Imagine if a whole race, Tuvaluans, we have our own culture, our own ways, is made extinct overnight because we are hit by a cyclone.”

No More Mr Nice Guy

Pacific islanders have traditionally enjoyed a reputation as gentle and amiable folk who would rather placate than confront. However, repeated appeals for the world’s developed nations to sit up and take notice of the Pacific plight appear to have fallen on deaf ears (despite encouraging noises being made by two of the world's biggest polluters over the last 18 months). As a result, the islanders may be forced to ditch their ‘Mr Nice Guy’ persona in order to make sure their voice is heard.

“I won’t be going to Paris wearing the usual friendly, compliant Pacific smile,” said Meleti Bainimarama, the district commissioner for the Namena district of Fiji, which has been suffering irregularly high tides of late. “In fact, I won’t be going to Paris in a Pacific frame of mind at all. I fear that our interests are about to be sacrificed.”

The determined Pacific attitude is also reflected in the fact that representatives from almost every Pacific contingent are expected to make the journey to Paris, which was far from the case in the 2009 climate summit held in Copenhagen, Denmark. As well as campaigning for greater commitment to curb global warming, the Pacific entreaty is also expected to target a promised sum of around $100 billion USD, earmarked for relocation efforts, sea walls and more adaptable crop initiatives.

Hopefully, the Pacific islanders will be able to get through to the rest of the world – if they don’t, they may tragically end up paying for everyone else’s mistakes.