Responding to the challenges of climate change in the Pacific Islands: management and technological imperatives

Abstract

Pacific Island nations face similar challenges from climate change to those faced by other developing nations, yet these are exacerbated by the comparative smallness, remoteness, and archipelagic character of many of the islands. Proposed solutions to the effects of climate change in the Pacific Islands have often been uncritically imposed from elsewhere and have often proved unsuited to both their environmental and cultural contexts. Effective solutions to challenges of climate change in the Pacific Islands should acknowledge their unique environmental characteristics, particularly their high insularity (coastal length to land area) ratios, their topographic and geological diversity, and the raw materials available to support adaptation. It is important for policy makers to understand the cultural influences that have helped shape current environmental decision making, and the ways in which adaptations to climate change can be sustained. The efficacy of donor preferences for aid funding of policy development (top-down) rather than empowering community-level decision-makers (bottom-up) is questionable. Pacific Island governments are focused on economic growth, with little tangible investment in non-profit environmental sustainability. In the future they should take on ownership of the climate-change adaptation process to a greater degree than they do at present, with external assistance brought in only for special cases and for the trialling of novel solutions, rather than for routine adaptation. Globally, there should be less emphasis on sea-level rise as the principal challenge posed by climate change to Pacific Island nations and a better appreciation of the other challenges, particularly inundation and salinization of economically critical lowland, as well as coral-reef degradation.

Integration of indigenous knowledge and disaster risk reduction: A case study from Baie Martelli, Pentecost Island, Vanuatu

“…This underlines the value given to traditional knowledge by indigenous people in Vanuatu and elsewhere, knowledge that they feel they own and which is relevant to their particular situation. In contrast, nonindigenous knowledge may be perceived as alien, particularly when it is communicated in an unfamiliar language and/or uses unfamiliar concepts, and is consequentl y undervalued (Mortreux and Barnett 2009;Nunn 2009a;Lata and Nunn 2011).…”

Integrating community based disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation: examples from the Pacific

“…Rather, they see risks to their livelihoods and the environment upon which they depend. Local communities have been long adapting to changes to their environment Nunn, 2009) and have as a consequence, developed local coping mechanisms that can be built upon and learned from when considering future climate change adaptation strategies.…”

“…The VCA is a useful tool to highlight not only the needs of the community, but also the capacity, skills, experience and knowledge that exists within communities. Pacific Islanders have been long coping with natural disasters, as most of the population reside close to the sea and interact daily with the environment for their food and livelihoods (Nunn, 2009). Drawing upon this local knowledge and developing an approach that not only addresses disaster and climate risk but all aspects of vulnerability can result in a success and sustainable community initiative.…”

“…The regional climate of the Pacific, while variable, generally exhibits tropical characteristics and PICs are susceptible to tropical cyclones, high swell events, floods and droughts, which are often driven by El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) circulation patterns (Nunn, 2009). The diversity of the Pacific islands is vast, with high volcanic islands (e.g.…”

“…those of Tuvalu and Kiribati). This diversity leads to vastly different levels of vulnerability and resilience to climate change impacts; however, as populations almost always reside along the coast, sea level rise and associated impacts threaten all PICs to some degree (Nunn, 2009). This paper, based on a year-long research project (see Gero et al, 2010), focuses on Fiji and Samoa as examples of two different PICs, allowing deeper insight into some of the issues occurring in the region.…”