Download Impacts of Climate Change in the Pacific

Climate Change in the
Pacific Region: Challenges
and Solutions
Overview of Presentation
• Impacts of climate change in the
Pacific
• Case Studies
• The Way Forward: solutions and
options for PICs
Impacts of Climate Change: Global Evidence
• According to the latest report from the
respected Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, it is "unequivocal"
that Earth's climate is warming "as
is now evident from observations of
increases in global average air and
ocean temperatures, widespread
melting of snow and ice, and rising
global mean sea level."
Impacts of Climate Change in the
Pacific
Deterioration in coastal
conditions, for example
through erosion of beaches and
coral bleaching, which is
expected to affect local
resources, e.g., fisheries, and
reduce the value of these
destinations for tourism.
Sea-level rise is expected to
exacerbate inundation, storm
surge, erosion and other
coastal hazards, thus
threatening vital
infrastructure, settlements and
facilities that support the
livelihood of island
communities.
Impacts of Climate Change in the Pacific
Climate change is projected by the
mid-century to reduce water
resources in many small islands in
the Pacific, to the point where they
become insufficient to meet
demand during low rainfall periods.
Contamination of fresh water with
salt water
Impacts of Climate Change in the Pacific
• Coral bleaching - corals
reefs, important for local fish
stocks will suffer
increasingly from bleaching
• Mangrove forests under
threat
• According to a 2006 UNEP
report some of the region’s
islands could lose half of
their mangroves by 2100 with
climate being one of the
factors.
Impacts of Climate Change in the
Pacific
• Health risks - such as an increase in
vector and water borne diseases
caused by warmer temperatures.
• changing food systems and living
conditions
• tuna - the principal economic
resource of the Pacific
Impacts of Climate Change in the
Pacific
•
Shifting rainfall patterns
causing prolonged droughts in
some areas and excessive
rainfall in others, including
increase in frequency and
intensity of cyclones.
•
A recent World Bank report
states that Kiribati could
experience flooding by rising
sea waters of up to 80 per
cent of the land mass in some
areas.
•
A World Bank-funded 2000
study found that in the
absence of adaptation, up to
55-80 % of land areas in
North Tarawa, and 25-54 % of
areas in South Tarawa could
be inundated by 2050 due to
sea level rise and storm surge
Impacts of Climate Change in the
Pacific
• According to a recent report by the Australian
Labor Party, Our Drowning Neighbours, deaths
from weather related disasters have already
increased in the region by 21% since the mid
1970s.
• Cyclone wind speeds are also predicted to
increase by 10-20% over the next few years.
• And the projected increase in the power of
tropical storms is compounded by the increased
number of tropical storms that has occurred
over the last 30 years.
King Tides Lash Kiribati
• A family climbs
to safety when
their house is hit
by a king tide in
Betio, on the
South Pacific
island of
Kiribati, in
February, 2005.
Waves peaked at
2.87 metres.
Resettlement – the beginning of climate
refugees in the Pacific
• The Carteret Islands (Papua New Guinea) and Tuvalu
are likely to be the first nations to be evacuated
due to climate change, but Kiribati, the Marshall
Islands and many other parts of the Pacific may also
have to face this catastrophe.
• Final analysis - a number of PICs will have to be
resettled because of flooding or areas being made
uninhabitable because of their salt contamination
Case Study: Tuvalu
• The threat of sea level rise may bring complete
disaster to the 11,000 Tuvaluans currently
residing on nine extremely low-lying coral atolls
with its entire population having to relocate to
other countries over the next few decades.
• Assistant Secretary for Foreign Affairs in
Tuvalu, Paani Laupepa made it clear that “we
feel threatened, our whole culture would have
to be transplanted”
The Case of Tegua, Vanuatu
• A small community living in the Pacific
island chain of Vanuatu has become
one of first to be formally moved as a
result of climate change.
• The community has been relocated
higher into the interior of Tegua
Island after their coastal homes were
repeatedly swamped by storm surges
and waves.
The Carterets
• The Carterets are six small islands that surround
an atoll about 25 kilometres wide.
• The islands are approximately one metre above
high tide and made of sand.
• Citizens on the Carteret Islands in Papua New
Guinea are also currently being moved because
of concerns for sea-level rise.
• The community’s health has been affected as
they lose access to fresh water, and advancing
salt-water is destroying gardens.
The Way Forward
• There is a responsibility for churches
in industrialised nations to take the
first steps to move the world away
from climate change but to also
assist church communities in
vulnerable island countries and
nations in dealing with the current
and expected impacts.
UNFCCC Obligations
• Australia and New Zealand, as wealthy
industrialised nations in the Pacific, have a
moral and ethical obligation to assist their
Pacific neighbours.
• Industrialised Nations, in particular Australia
and New Zealand also have international
obligations under the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to
assist Pacific island countries and other
developing nations “that are particularly
vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate
change in meeting the costs of adaptation to
those adverse effects” and to “formulate and
implement national and, where appropriate,
regional mitigation and adaptation programs”.
Proposed Actions for Pacific Churches
• Continue to lobby the industrial nations
on their lack of concerted action and
pressure them to reduce greenhouse
emissions
• migration
• foreshore stabilisation, resettlement and
decentralisation to adapt to the impacts
of climate and sea-level changes.
• protecting fresh water sources from
salt-water contamination
• adapting to land losses and dealing with
coastal infrastructure impacted by
erosion.
Options for the PICs
• the most important thing to do is to
reduce greenhouse emissions
• assistance in developing and moving to
renewable energy
• renewable energy could play a significant
role in addressing mitigation but also many
of the other issues related to energy use
and demand in the Pacific.
• Pacific nations will need assistance to
undertake and deliver many of these options
in terms of planning and the associated
policy implications.
Conclusion
• NO THEORETICAL DISCUSSIONS
• QUESTION OF LIFE AND DEATH
• HOW FAR CAN WE ADAPT TO NEW
WEATHER CONDITIONS?
• DO WE STILL HAVE A CHOICE WHERE
TO LIVE?
• SLOW EVACUATION PROCESS FOR
TUVALU.
OUR PACIFIC CALL TO THE
ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
• Let us embrace our
Mutual Vulnerability
• Let us embrace our
Accountability to Each Other
• Make real our commitment to
Ecumenical solidarity
Individually we are a drop,
together we are an ocean"
Ryunosuke Satoro