Month: May 2022

Indigenous Communities and Climate Science

by Solange-Renée Puryear Thompson

For the majority of the world, when the South Pacific is discussed, what enters their minds is the thought of the populations that live in countries south of the Equator. For the communities that live in these countries, the South Pacific references the ethnographic regions of Micronesia, Polynesia, and Melanesia and the Indigenous populations that inhabit them. These populations are among the most vulnerable to the devastation caused by climate change, in fact, many of the consequences they experience are much worse than in other regions of the world despite their minuscule contributions to the greenhouse gases that have been and continue to pollute the globe.

According to “Climate Change and Indigenous People in the South Pacific,” an article written by Dr. Eric L. Kwa, an Environmental Lawyer and current Attorney General of Papua New Guinea, in the South Pacific, there were approximately 9.5 million Indigenous people in 2008. (Kwa, 1) While Indigenous people throughout the world have a long history of defending their land and people against those who attempt to disrupt their equilibrium, climate change is an enemy they cannot fight. Indigenous communities rely heavily on the biodiversity of their environment for survival, and many of the solutions to the various issues involved in climate change do not prioritize Indigenous South Pacific communities and their connections to their environments. The biodiversity of these regions is unparalleled, and as of 2020, they have faced at least a 20% decrease in that biodiversity since 1990. (Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme) Among islands in the South Pacific, there is an adage that is as follows, “land is life, without land there is no life.” This adage is a crucial component of Indigenous communities, it is an ideal that underlies the culture and lifestyle of these populations. There is an understanding among Indigenous people, especially in the South Pacific, that land does not belong to anyone and it is a privilege to interact with and experience the land around them.

Despite this, throughout the South Pacific, Indigenous communities have not been properly considered in the attempts to repair the damage done by climate change. While there has been some consideration of Indigenous populations and their rights to their ways of life, there has also been a failure to ensure that these populations will be able to preserve their lifestyles and historical interdependence with the environments they and their ancestors have inhabited for millennia. Much of the solution-oriented thinking surrounding climate change and its effects involves a determination that the only option for the populace of the South Pacific is relocation. Climate change is a novel and wildly complex issue faced by the entire world in different ways — novel problems require novel solutions. As stated by Kwa, “National climate change policies and laws which must be holistic in character are also imperative to protect indigenous people, their land, economies and cultures.” (Kwa, 13)

These solutions, unlike those for some other nations, must properly evaluate the cultural beliefs and practices of the Indigenous populations of the South Pacific and implement strategies to aid in their preservation. This requires an alteration of the legal and political frameworks of these countries.  Many of these communities have already come up with solutions, utilizing ecosystem-based adaptations (EBA). Ecosystem-based adaptations can be defined as, “combining biodiversity and ecosystem services into an adaptation and development strategy that increases the resilience of ecosystems and communities to climate change through the conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of ecosystems.” (Mcleod, Elizabeth, et. al., 2) Despite their hard work, much of their work has been ignored in scholarly works.

2010 Environmental Data for the Countries and Territories of the South Pacific

Jupiter, Stacy, et. al. ‘Conservation of Biodiversity in the Pacific Islands of Oceania: Challenges and Opportunities Pacific’. Pacific Conservation Biology 20 (08 2014): 206–220. Web.

Kwa, Eric L. ‘Climate change and indigenous peoples in the South Pacific: The need for regional and local strategies’. Climate Law and Developing Countries: Legal and Policy Challenges for the World Economy (01 2009): 102–124. Print.

Mcleod, Elizabeth, et. al. ‘Lessons From the Pacific Islands – Adapting to Climate Change by Supporting Social and Ecological Resilience’. Frontiers in Marine Science 6 (2019): n. pag. Web.

Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. “Pacific Islands to Help Halt Biodiversity Loss.” Pacific Environment, 6 Feb. 2020, https://www.sprep.org/news/pacific-islands-to-help-halt-biodiversity-loss.

The Climate Reality Project. “Trouble in Paradise: How Does Climate Change Affect Pacific Island Nations?” Climate Reality, 14 Mar. 2019, https://www.climaterealityproject.org/blog/trouble-paradise-how-does-climate-change-affect-pacific-island-nations.

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Science Alone Cannot Solve the Climate Crisis

By Emily McGhee

Science alone will not solve the climate crisis. To appropriately manage and address climate change and impending natural disasters in the South Pacific, policy makers, scientists, and indigenous leaders must bridge the gap between hard science, its solutions, and traditional indigenous knowledge.

Islands in the South Pacific are in a particularly vulnerable position. They are already feeling the effects of climate change. Adaptions are already taking place for people to be able to deal with the changes that come with climate change and climate disasters happening in the region. Policymakers turn to hard science to “answer questions of how communities should deal with climate challenges” (Finucane 1). However, effective risk management enacted by indigenous communities in response to climate change and natural disasters has already taken place for centuries. Indigenous knowledge remains a largely untapped source of knowledge for dealing with climate change in the South Pacific.

The IPCC cites that environmental conditions will worsen in the South Pacific. Rising sea levels will worsen a variety of environmental factors such as flooding, storm surge, erosion, coastal hazards, etc. These factors are compounded by the issues that pacific island nations face due to the nature of their existence and locations. Their small sizes, disaster risk, isolation, low adaptive capacity, and the cost of adaptation relative to GDP all make for incredible difficulties in implementing exclusively scientifically based adaptation strategies in the region.

Scientific models are not the whole picture when it comes to looking at risk. When climate scientists analyze risk they tend to look at it mainly from the scientific perspective analyzing temperature, water availability, crop yields, etc. This however ignores the considerable social risks tied to climate change and the associated responses from society. In the Pacific, factors such as the movement of outer island rural communities to population centers, low income, unemployment, high national debt, and poor infrastructure compound the problem.

To add to this issue, climate models of the south pacific tend to not be detailed enough which causes problems for local actors to make decisions based on them. When decision makers are unable to use scientific data properly in policy making it erodes trust in the institutions and also in the science itself. Distrust also occurs in the difference between science and what is observed. Such distrust is more common in those of lower socioeconomic backgrounds.

Historically, Pacific island countries have adapted to harsh weather conditions. Generations of traditional knowledge about the local environment and how to deal with the conditions have allowed people to thrive in the region with little intervention from western scientific ideas. Many pacific cultures use oral tradition, storytelling, and local observation to understand climate patterns and signs. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric in New Zealand has begun documenting traditional environmental and climate knowledge from Maori and Samoan peoples. Connecting traditional and modern knowledge to explain traditional phenomena in terms of science helps to fill the gaps in modern science while allowing for better communication about the issues that climate change and disasters present.

Ultimately, policymakers must address risk management by looking at strategies that involve indigenous, local, and cultural components to ensure widespread and effective implementation. Advocacy, in this sense, to not just create short-term solutions but also address long-term problems is challenging but involves combining both local and traditional approaches from actors on both sides, and works to fully tackle the human-climate relationship in the south pacific.

 

FINUCANE, MELISSA L. Why Science Alone Won’t Solve the Climate Crisis: Managing Climate Risks in the Pacific. East-West Center, 2009, http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep16011. Accessed 08 May 2022.

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The Effects of Climate Change In The South Pacific

By: Gursimran Padda

A map of the South Pacific. Vaka Moana: Voyages of the Ancestors – the discovery and settlement of the Pacific, ed K.R. Howe, 2008, p57.

One of the primary ways that climate change affects the South Pacific is rising sea levels. Though there are many causes, the main one is global warming, caused by the greenhouse effect in which greenhouse gasses trap heat in the atmosphere. Due to an excess amount of greenhouse gasses this effect is multiplied, causing effects such as the expansion of water volume in the ocean and the melting of glaciers, which both contribute to sea level rise. 

Many of the islands in the South Pacific are low lying atolls, many of which are barely above sea level. Take for example the country of Kiribati, made up of 32 atolls and islands with an average elevation of 6.5 feet above sea level according to Brian Reed of NPR. Denise Chow of NBC had also reported that 3 islands had sunk in Kiribati in 2018 due to climate change related flooding and extreme weather patterns, which shows us how real the issue is.

On top of contributing to the flooding, rising sea levels also contribute to the killing off of coral reefs through increased sedimentation which smothers the coral, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These reefs serve as a buffer and first range of defense against extreme weather and flooding, as they die off the islands of the South Pacific and the people on them become more vulnerable to erosion and coastal damage (NOAA). These reefs are also incredibly productive ecosystems which peoples of the pacific rely on for fishing. As stated by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, other livelihood damages include increased drought likelihoods caused by global warming, which can dry out soil and plant life, making farming and also accumulation of food more difficult.

As sea levels rise, freshwater access also declines. The main way that freshwater is accessed in the South Pacific is by lensing, or water tables found underneath the island which float above the denser saltwater, as stated by Gordon Tribble’s “Ground Water on Tropical Pacific Islands— Understanding a Vital Resource”. As sea levels rise, these freshwater tables are encroached on, thereby contaminating the freshwater available.

 

Chow, Denise. “Three Islands Disappeared in the Past Year. Is Climate Change to Blame?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 9 June 2019, https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/three-islands-disappeared-past-year-climate-change-blame-ncna1015316.

Reed, Brian. “Climate Change and Faith Collide in Kiribati.” NPR, NPR, 16 Feb. 2011, https://www.npr.org/2011/02/16/133650679/climate-change-and-faith-collide-in-kiribati#:~:text=The%20average%20height%20of%20the,There%27s%20nowhere%20to%20retreat.

Tribble, Gordon. “Ground Water on Tropical Pacific Islands-Understanding a Vital Resource.” USGS Publications Warehouse, U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey, 2008, https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/1312/.

“Drought and Climate Change.” Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, https://www.c2es.org/content/drought-and-climate-change/#:~:text=There%20are%20a%20number%20of,would%20be%20in%20cooler%20conditions.&text=Recent%20U.S.%20droughts%20have%20been%20the%20most%20expansive%20in%20decades.

“How Does Climate Change Affect Coral Reefs?” NOAA’s National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce, 3 Mar. 2015, https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coralreef-climate.html#:~:text=Sea%20level%20rise%3A%20may%20lead,the%20destruction%20of%20coral%20reefs. 

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Understanding South Pacific Methodology and Perspectives: In-Situ Adaptation

By: Gursimran Padda

In-situ adaptation, or “On sight adaptation”, focuses on solving problems at the local level and within local systems and with local voices/perspectives by undergoing community building projects, as described by Laurice Jamero et al. in “In-situ adaptation against climate change can enable relocation of impoverished small islands”. These projects are done in order to address socio-economic factors that characterize vulnerability to climate change. In-situ adaptation is influenced by resource availability and prices, government policy towards agriculture, and innovation within technology, as stated by Xuchun Liu and Yan Tan’s “In-situ Adaption and Out-Migration: Enablers and Constraints Among Rural Households of the Mountainous Region of Southern Ningxia, Northwest China” (Liu & Tan, 3). This exemplifies that local perspectives should be understood due to outside influences on adaptation. 

In-situ adaptation, along with out-migration/immigration act as ways communities can diversify and protect their livelihoods from climate change. Examples of community building projects and adaptation that can be done in place of migration include improving water conservation and irrigation systems, applying water-saving techniques in farming, and cultivating drought resistant crops (Liu & Tan 11). 

The Pacific Climate Warriors Papua New Guinea Branch, an organization made up of indigenous South Pacific Peoples to help give a voice to the people of the region.

One of the biggest factors that makes in-situ adaptation more prominent is that many people in the South Pacific don’t want to leave the island or are unable to leave. In the case of the latter, this is closely connected to economic factors but for the former this is more due to cultural reasons. Going back to the initial story of Guam, the peoples of the Pacific are closely linked to their islands, spiritually and culturally. The Fijian concept of vanua for example is a concept that ties the Fijian people, customs, spirituality, and land together, as stated by Carol Farbotko’s piece for the Migration Policy Institute. These in the modern day are all combined when analyzing sustainable development for a greater community, with similar ideas being seen across Pacific cultures such as Iwi in the Maori culture (Farbotko). Land is in many ways inseparable from the people, so on top of potential economic and development concerns there are also cultural ones. 

In-situ adaptation is integral to understanding the communal needs of the people in the South Pacific, and they help bridge the gap between policy makers, climate scientists, and the people of the region.

 

Jamero, Ma. Laurice, et al. “In-Situ Adaptation against Climate Change Can Enable Relocation of Impoverished Small Islands.” Marine Policy, Pergamon, Oct. 2019, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308597X18303324.

Farbotko, Carol. “No Retreat: Climate Change and Voluntary Immobility in the Pacific Islands.” The Migration Policy Institute, 10 Oct. 2019, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/no-retreat-climate-change-and-voluntary-immobility-pacific-islands#:~:text=The%20alternative%20to%20voluntary%20mobility,negative%20impacts%20on%20affected%20groups.&text=In%20the%20Pacific%20Islands%2C%20saltwater,to%20make%20some%20areas%20uninhabitable.

Liu, Xiuchun. Tan, Yan. “In-situ Adaption and Out-Migration: Enablers and Constraints Among Rural Households of the Mountainous Region of Southern Ningxia, Northwest China.” International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, 26-3 Aug. 2013 https://iussp.org/sites/default/files/event_call_for_papers/TanLiu_In-situ%20Adaption%20and%20Out-Migration%20in%20Southern%20Ningxia%20of%20China_IUSSP2013.pdf 

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A Regional Solution to a Regional Problem: Free Movement Agreements

By: Gursimran Padda

Free Movement Agreements (FMAs) are agreements in which groups of countries come together in order to create a common market and more closely integrate their economies. Within an FMA, the movement of goods, services, and most importantly people, becomes much easier. 

Specifically speaking for the movement of people, this is done through visa free travel for citizens of member countries within the agreement. This is a highly important point as under current refugee law, climate change refugees and environmentally displaced persons are not recognized as refugees. According to the activist group “Climate Refugees” the problem lies in how refugee law only protects those fleeing direct persecution by an agent (such as a terror group or government), the environment and climate change displacement isn’t included. Due to such stipulations they are not granted refugee rights and their asylum cases are not likely to go through, as stated by Ama Francis in “Climate-Induced Migration & Free Movement Agreements” (Francis FMA, 124-126). Through FMAs, those that are displaced through climate change or environmentally related reasons, don’t have to prove their case, which not only makes it easier for them to escape their situation and flee, but also it removes the stigma of being known as a climate refugee, a term disliked by many in the South Pacific, as stated by an article from United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Flooding the village of Eita in Kiribati. Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images

FMAs also respond to the multi-causal nature of climate change and environmental displacement, and the complexities of migration as a result of it. Ama Francis states in “Free Movement Agreements & Climate Induced Migration: A Caribbean Case Study”, that climate change encompasses a broad range of causes for displacement, such as flooding and droughts mentioned in prior sections, and those that escape it do so either voluntarily or are forced to, and from here they are either temporary or long term migrants (Francis Caribbean, 20-21). Moreover migration, including climate change based displacement, primarily happens at the regional level (Francis Caribbean, 21-22). FMAs don’t just allow those seeking refuge to bypass refugee laws, but it tackles what is a regional problem by allowing migrants access to jobs and allowing them to escape within their region visa free without having to prove a case or carry any burden. Through regional movement, migrants also have access to countries closer in culture to their own, which could lessen (Francis, 23)  the adverse impact of displacement to a new country. 

Economic growth is also perpetuated by FMAs, at both the national and local levels, which could be further reinvested into resilience and sustainability programs. One of the most notable FMAs is the EU’s Schengen Area, which has been instrumental in economic growth and easing trade between member countries, as found by a study conducted by the European Parliamentary Research Service. Applying a similar agreement within the South Pacific can increase trade between member countries which could increase capital. Likewise, FMAs also allow citizens access to jobs in different countries which in return can increase remittance flows at the local level, allowing money to enter local communities which can be used to combat climate change related issues there. Additionally, FMAs can also allow workers who do work in another country within the agreement to benefit from that job’s social security benefits, as done so by CARICOM in the Caribbean through the transferring and integration of social security rights and benefits (Francis FMA, 127).

FMAs also have an advantage in that due to a variety of reasons a global framework on the rights of climate refugees is unlikely to occur, as stated by an article from Amy Lieberman of DevEx. This is primarily due to the complexities related to climate change based migration mentioned above and the complexities of creating a global framework that most countries are willing to agree on. Despite this, FMAs tackle the problem in a more realistic way as neighboring countries not only have greater degrees of trust with each other and mutual reliance (Francis Caribbean, 25) , but the pool of countries needed for an FMA to go through are much smaller than a global framework. Though the likelihood is unlikely, new changes are being made such as the creation of the Global Compact which seeks to expand the rights of migrants, especially those not already protected under the strict refugee conventions of international law.

 

 

Lieberman , Amy. “A ‘Super Framework’ for Climate Migration Isn’t on the Way .” DevEx, 29 Oct. 2019, https://www.devex.com/news/a-super-framework-for-climate-migration-isn-t-on-the-way-95903.

Francis, Ama. “Climate-Induced Migration & Free Movement Agreements.” Journal of International Affairs, vol. 73, no. 1, 2019, pp. 123–34, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26872782. 

Francis, Ama. “Free Movement Agreements & Climate Induced Migration: A Caribbean Case Study.” Sabin Center for Climate Change, Columbia Law School, Sept. 2019. http://columbiaclimatelaw.com/files/2019/09/FMAs-Climate-Induced-Migration-AFrancis.pdf 

“The Economic Impact of Suspending Schengen.” European Parliamentary Research Service, European Union Parliament, Mar, 2016, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2016/579074/EPRS_ATA(2016)579074_EN.pdf

“The Problem.” Climate Refugees, https://www.climate-refugees.org/why#:~:text=The%201951%20Refugee%20Convention%20offers,social%20group%20or%20political%20opinion.“Pacific Islanders Reject ‘Climate Refugee’ Status, Want to ‘Migrate with Dignity’, Sids Conference Hears – World.” ReliefWeb, OCHA, 15 Sept. 2014, https://reliefweb.int/report/world/pacific-islanders-reject-climate-refugee-status-want-migrate-dignity-sids-conference.

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Internal Migration In The South Pacific: Case Studies In Kiribati

By: Gursimran Padda

An aerial view of the densely populated city of South Tarawa, on Tarawa Island Kiribati. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

One of the most prominent forms of not just environmental migration, but migration generally is internal migration according to the United Nations Migration’s “2020 World Migration Report” (UN Migration, 19). Within the South Pacific this occurs as well, mainly through urbanization, or the movement of people from rural communities to more developed cities. The South Pacific, according to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific’s “Ocean Cities of The Pacific Islands Policy Brief #1 The Ocean and The City”, is a highly urbanized part of the world, and the rates continue to increase (UNESCAP, 2). Urbanization can be explained by the push and pull factors mentioned previously, but in the case of the South Pacific, one of the biggest pull factors is greater availability and accessibility for fresh water in more urbanized areas.

When analyzing urbanization in the South Pacific, the country of Kiribati works as a perfect example. In 1947 Kiribati’s capital of South Tarawa, situated on Tarawa Island, had roughly ~1671 people according to a TIME article published by Mélissa Godin, but as of 2020 the Kiribati official census believes this number to be 63,439, a massive increase in its population. In a study done by the Kiribati government in 2012 entitled “Island Report Series: South Tarawa”, South Tarawa has Kiribati’s highest growth rate in terms of population, and the third highest by percentage, with a growth rate of 4.4% between 2005 and 2010. 

South Tarawa has a land area of 15.76 square kilometers however, this realistically drops to 12 square kilometers when ignoring unusable land  (Kiribati Government, 1-4). This paints the picture of a very densely populated portion of a very small piece of land. The high urban population, coupled with a high urban growth rate have caused problems for the small portion of the island. According to Justin T. Locke’s “Climate Change-Induced Migration in the Pacific Region: Sudden Crisis and Long-Term Developments” resources have been under pressure, most notably freshwater, and squatter settlements have increased (Locke, 174). Overcrowding on the island has increased the spread of disease, mainly caused by poor or overstressed sanitary systems such as lack of garbage disposal systems, and poor sewage systems (Locke, 173-176). South Tarawa also has a noticeably higher infant mortality rate of 69 per 1000 live births, in comparison to other regions and has had high malnutrition rates, both due to the lack of resource access (Locke, 175). 

Much of these issues are already exacerbated by climate change, as mentioned in the section prior, as rising sea levels play an immense role in freshwater access and reasons for migration to begin with. Though no clear links have been established (Locke, 174), it is likely that South Tarawa’s population has grown in conjunction with climate change related resource access and livelihood damages in neighboring rural islands, which fuel internal migration. Policy responses to alleviate health problems caused by overpopulation are the “Integrated Land and Population Development Programme” (Locke, 175) which is part of the greater Climate Change Adaptation plan by the Kiribati government. The plans entail relocation of people to outer islands and employing family planning to stabilize the population. When dealing with squatters, the government plans to incentivize movement if people were to do so voluntarily. This program is however only a short term solution, as due to high birth rates and continued climate change related pressure, internal migration cannot be the sole solution.

Kiribati’s story is just one example, other countries in the South Pacific are falling victim to similar problems, which just shows how cooperation within the international and regional community of the South Pacific is necessary. Many countries within the South Pacific have been looking elsewhere through migration to help combat this problem.

 

Godin, Mélissa. “Climate Refugees Cannot Be Sent Home, U.N. Rules.” Time, Time, 20 Jan. 2020, https://time.com/5768347/climate-refugees-un-ioane-teitiota/#:~:text=The%20island%20has%20undergone%20a,by%202010%20housed%20over%2050%2C000. 

Locke, Justin T. “Climate Change-Induced Migration in the Pacific Region: Sudden Crisis and Long-Term Developments.” The Geographical Journal, vol. 175, no. 3, 2009, pp. 171–80, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25621817. Accessed 9 May 2022. 

Pala, Christopher. “Kiribati and China to Develop Former Climate-Refuge Land in Fiji.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 23 Feb. 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/24/kiribati-and-china-to-develop-former-climate-refuge-land-in-fiji. 

“Republic of Kiribati Island Report Series 6. South Tarawa.” Office of Te Beretitenti & T’Makei Services, Government of Kiribati, 2012 http://www.climate.gov.ki/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/6_SOUTH-TARAWA-revised-2012.pdf 

“Ocean Cities Policy Brief #1 : The Ocean and The City.” United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, United Nations, 21 Nov. 2018 https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/files/Ocean%20Cities%20of%20the%20Pacific%20Islands_PB1_UNESCAP_USP_0.pdf 

“World Migration Report 2020.” International Organization for Migration & United Nations Migration, United Nations, 2020 https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/wmr_2020.pdf

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International Labor Schemes

By Rex Alex

Changing gender attitudes through seasonal work

The labor schemes promoted by Australia and New Zealand offer a solution to the conflicts faced by Environmental Refugees. For example, New Zealand and Australia have opened seasonal workers programs for Pacific Islanders. Australia has also opened nursing programs through the Kiribati Australia Nursing Initiative and invested in the Kiribati Institute of Technology in which students will be educated with Australian standards. Such programs offer the chance for eventual permanent settlement  and social mobility for Pacific Islanders. While such opportunities can be helpful, they also come with the risk of labor exploitation, particularly for seasonal fruit picking workers. Another concern with these programs is how they are operated exclusively within the standards of the country which funds them. This can cause the  Pacific Island nations to lose sovereignty and the Indigenous people of these islands may lose their culture and knowledge regarding the land. Furthermore these programs are critiqued for disproportionately benefiting young, educated and upper-class Kiribati, who are only a small percentage.  

 

Klepp, Silja, and Johannes Herbeck. “The Politics of Environmental Migration and Climate Justice in the Pacific Region.” Journal of Human Rights and the Environment, vol. 7, no. 1, Mar. 2016, pp. 54–73, 10.4337/jhre.2016.01.03. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Silja-Klepp-2/publication/299575803_The_politics_of_environmental_migration_and_climate_justice_in_the_Pacific_region/links/5852859708aef7d030a4eaa9/The-politics-of-environmental-migration-and-climate-justice-in-the-Pacific-region.pdf  

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Migration With Dignity

By Rex Alex

He leads the country that could drown | Fortune

There are several innovative policy solutions which are being implemented in hopes to remediate current climate conflicts and avoid future complications, however such policies are not without unique shortcomings. One such policy is the “Migration with Dignity” initiative which was implemented by Kiribati President Anote Tong. As a nation of small islands and atolls, Kiribati has no sustainable internal migration solution; thus the goal is to develop large expatriate communities in Australia, New Zealand and other developed nations which comes with the additional benefit of remittances for Kiribati. Furthermore, the core policy is to “upskill” Kiribati citizens through government programs which provide education or job training so that they can migrate to new countries not as victims but as qualified workers. While the intent of this policy is noble, it fails to reach those with limited literacy and subsistence livelihoods. Also, Many people view the ‘migrate with dignity’ strategy critically, as it reinforces the image of Kiribati as a ‘climate change poster child’ and symbolic “sinking island state”, such stereotypes are rejected by Kiribati citizens.  

McNamara, Karen. “Cross-Border Migration with Dignity in Kiribati.” Researchgate.net, May 2015,  https://www.fmreview.org/sites/fmr/files/FMRdownloads/en/climatechange-disasters/mcnamara.pdf  

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The Root Causes of Climate Migration

By Rex Alex

Climate Adaptation and Resilience Costs in the Pacific Islands and Atolls - Climate Adaptation Platform

There are a plethora of motivations behind why someone may decide to become an Environmental Refugee. These include push factors, for example, climate change can cause a reduction in land, livelihood or habitat security for some Pacific communities. Similarly, low-lying coastal areas and river deltas may become unsuitable for physical settlement, or they remain habitable but income and food security options become marginal. As well as reduced precipitation or increased disease vectors causing the deterioration of habitability. However there are also some pull factors including, labor market opportunities that come with better education, health care or the ability to send remittances to families. In regards to community relocation, communities may prefer to relocate to sites that are as close to the original settlement. This would enable communities to sustain most of their livelihoods, although those based on the coastal sector may become less viable. Evaluating these push and pull factors allows for better understanding of the conflicts Environmental Refugees face.

ampbell, John, and Olivia Warrick. Climate Change and Migration Issues in the Pacific CLIMATE CHANGE and MIGRATION ISSUES in the PACIFIC. Aug. 2014. https://www.ilo.org/dyn/migpractice/docs/261/Pacific.pdf

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What is an Environmental Refugee and Why are they Important?

By Rex Alex

Taking a Look at Poverty in Nauru

Environmental refugees face similar experiences as other refugees however they are held to different standards. The first step in evaluating these differences is to accurately define an Environmental Refugee. The best definition is presented by the International Organization for Migration which states that an Environmental Refugee is, “persons or groups of persons who, for compelling reasons of sudden or progressive change in the environment that adversely affect their lives or living conditions, are obliged to leave their conditional homes, or choose to do so, either temporarily or permanently, and who move either within their country or abroad.” 

Although this definition is accurate it is not sufficient under international law for the principle of non-refoulement, which prevents refugees from being sent back to a country where they face danger, to be extended to Environmental Refugees. This privilege is denied for Environmental Refugees as per the 1951 refugee convention from the UNHCR which effectively limits this protection to refugees facing dangers from a government or organization based on their identity.  

“The Problem.” Climate Refugees, www.climate-refugees.org/why#:~:text=The%201951%20Refugee%20Convention%20offers. Accessed 9 May 2022.

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