Researchers: More Pacific voices needed in climate literature

Coastal homes in Funafuti, Tuvalu, are pictured on November 28, 2019. The low-lying South Pacific island nation of about 11,000 people is classified by the United Nations Development Programme as “extremely vulnerable” to climate change due to rising sea levels.
photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images

The voices of Pacific peoples on the frontline of climate change are missing from the climate literature, says a New Zealand-based researcher.

Dr. Tracie Mafile’o of Mana Pacific Consultants and her team documented multi-generational stories in Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga and Tuvalu.

“Before embarking on this project, we conducted an extensive literature review on climate mobility as part of our planning,” she said.

Dr. Maffeleo explains climate mobility as “situations where people need to migrate due to climate impacts, or decide to stay where they are despite climate impacts.”

“We found that there were huge gaps not only in climate mobility, but also in the climate literature, in the voices of Pacific people, those who are on the front lines of climate change that is largely being caused by other parts of the world.”

Communities across the Pacific have shared their personal experiences of climate change with her research team, who hope their work will help influence decision-making in the region.

“That’s really the point of this project – listening to the people who are actually experiencing and are on the front lines of the worst climate change impacts around the world.

“Some of the impacts we’re hearing about are around food security.

“Our coastal communities have relied on fishing for protein for generations, but now there is less fish available or the fish are smaller; they are having to go further and more dangerous to fish.”

She said Pacific people were resilient, but some were planning to relocate.

For two islands in East Malaita, Solomon Islands – Gui Island and Ngongo Sila – the impact is so great that they plan to relocate back to mainland Malaita, “with the entire community moving back”.

“They are actively planning the relocation of the entire island,” she said.

“Some of the impacts they’ve had are – they can’t even bury their loved ones who have passed away.”

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