Pacific Peoples' Partnership

Connecting Indigenous and Pacific Peoples

The reality of climate impacts in the South Pacific

by

Women at a village feast in Toukou, Fiji.

Reflections from our Executive Director and Board President

Dearest PPP Friends and Family,

This past summer hundreds of wildfires scorched Canada from coast to coast, with the majority burning in British Columbia and Alberta. An iceberg the size of Prince Edward Island in Canada (roughly 5,660 km²) broke off Antarctica. The extreme unseasonable and devastating effects of climate change are now impacting us in every corner of our world.

And yet, our South Pacific friends living in some of the most affected nations of the world strongly remind us: “We are not drowning, we are fighting.” And so must we, as this is a matter of not only climate justice but our very survival globally. These passionate words were shared by Pacific 360 Warrior Mikaele Maiava live from Samoa during PPP’s Livestream event “Pacific Streams: Community Narratives on Climate Change” (sponsored by our long-time partner CAPI – Centre for Asia Pacific Initiatives.) Watch it here:

PPP is serious about addressing climate change. This past summer I had the opportunity to participate in the Climate Reality Project Climate Leadership Corps Training with Former US Vice President Al Gore in Bellevue, Washington. Over 800 delegates inspired to be Climate Leaders attended, in fact this the 35th cohort was one of the largest to date. This was encouraging, as the fight in the USA against climate change has taken such a disastrous turn under the current US administration.

Despite that administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement on Climate Change, the very future of our world depends on our solidarity, so what an inspiration it was to participate alongside youth, scientists, Indigenous leaders, activists, inventors, teachers, retirees, and countless volunteers impassioned to take a stand and make a difference. We represented so many walks of life, and together we will unite in the fight against climate change.

Tokou Village house and boat, May 2017

Earlier this year I visited the Fijian town of Toukou on Ovalau Island. Here I was reminded of the continuing risk and ongoing climate devastation faced by those most vulnerable geographically. I was there to represent PPP and our donors who are providing support through our Pacific Resilience Fund to assist with the recovery efforts at the Loreto Catholic School which was nearly leveled last year.

My tour took place during unsettled tropical weather that alternated between continual rain deluges and wind storms. This made it even more difficult to bear witness to the damage from both 2015 and 2016 cyclones on this small historic island.

It was heartbreaking to consider that the community could be hit by yet another cyclone before they can recover from the last, especially since so many families have had to leave the island to pursue employment and find accommodations and education on the main island due to this accumulated damage.

Students of Loreto School in Toukou, Fiji.

With this realization, the fight can seem hopeless, but it is not hopeless if we take action now. Pacific peoples are strong and resilient. They advocate for “1.5 to just survive” and are counting on us all to do our part. In Bonn Germany, Fiji just hosted the UN Climate Change Conference (COP23). They brought a traditional Fijian canoe or drua, which serves as a powerful symbol of resilience and unity. This also serves to remind us that “The whole world is in the same canoe.”

“We need COP23 to accelerate climate action,” says Nick Nuttall, Spokesperson for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “The meeting is a staging post on our irreversible path to a low-carbon future, a path that we need to go on further, faster, together.”

In response to our shared climate crisis PPP has been developing a three year climate action response that includes knowledge sharing components, including two conferences. The first is Red Tide, our International Indigenous Climate Action Summit (May 2018 in Aotearoa) in followed by a youth climate summit in 2020 in British Columbia.

We are also embarking on a research program in partnership with the Indigenous Governance program at the University of Victoria to inform future policy and program development, and hosting public engagement activities such as our annual One Wave Gathering and our educational program FrancOcean Pacifique. Also in design is a Pacific Eco Youth Alliance, and a growing media hub.

PPP is contributing to many networks and community engagement projects both domestically and internationally, ultimately building solidarity and resolve together within our global community.

For Pacific… Peace… In Solidarity,

April Ingham, Executive Director & Mua Va’a, President

Please donate today to help Pacific Peoples’ Partnership take action on climate change.

Pacific Resilience Fund in Toukou

by

 

Photo by April Ingham

In February of 2016, the strongest and costliest cyclone in the history of the South Pacific swept across Queensland, Tonga, Vanuatu, Niue, and Fiji. Tropical Cyclone Winston illustrated the widespread damage an extreme climate event can inflict upon island nations and its communities.

For Tokou village, on the Fijian island of Ovalau, the cyclone resulted in the loss of many local residences and the destruction of the Loreto Catholic School.

One school building, rushed by storm surges of up to seven meters high, floated off its foundations before coming to rest across the schoolyard. That same building began to serve as a temporary schoolhouse and meeting space for the community at its unanticipated new location.

The entire Tokou village, including the site of Loreto school, had been previously marked by the Fijian government for relocation. But in the aftermath of Cyclone Winston the Fijian government began reconstruction in the exact location Loreto was destroyed: adjacent to a steep hillside, flanked by road, river and ocean.

Disasters such as cyclones can reveal poorly informed and supported foundational frameworks—whether in architecture or in the disaster relief system.

In the aftermath of Cyclone Winston, international support channelled through the Fijian government provided funding for temporary classroom tent structures. These classroom tents baked in the tropical heat and became soaked from the ground up in the rain.

Pacific Peoples’ Partnership became involved with rebuilding a more resilient Loreto School in this shifting landscape. We had pinpointed Loreto School as a strong candidate for support through consultations with hereditary Fijian leaders living in Victoria, BC. This oversight proved to be critical, as  a strong understanding of the community was needed to navigate multiple sources of funding rushing in to support insufficient temporary infrastructure in the community. 

Together with a variety of donors—including the local Pacific Islander community of the Victoria area—Pacific Peoples’ Partnership raised $15,000 for rebuilding Loreto Catholic School. The funding was channelled through the Pacific Resilience Fund, a flexible funding mechanism designed to promote medium term climate resiliency programming in communities as a supplement to the short term disaster relief system.

In 2017, Executive Director April Ingham travelled to Tokou Village to determine the full scope of Loreto School’s needs. Through consultations with elders, teachers and the broader community, April determined that PPP funding would be most useful to support the ongoing repairs, materials and labour needed to repair the Headteacher’s house. The school’s structural issues were being addressed by the Fijian government, and the Headteacher’s house proved to be a central meeting and community space for the school and village. Any additional funds would support the associated costs of a seawall to protect the school, incorporating recommendations of restoring coastal mangroves to protect against storm surge.

The Pacific Islands region is among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Geographic isolation, small size, and narrow resource base—coupled with the increasing magnitude and impact of existing natural hazards—threaten the lives and livelihoods of Pacific Island countries and territories.

The clear overlap between risks related to climate change and disaster management inspired the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific: An Integrated Approach to Address Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management (FRDP). The FRDP provides guidance and critical insights for community stakeholders, from grassroots to government initiatives, to private interest investment.  The shift from a vulnerability based framework to a resiliency based framework is an important recognition of the leadership and strength of Island communities.

Through the efforts of local leaders and collaboration between community stakeholders, Pacific Islanders have the opportunity to develop more resilient communities and a stronger climate and disaster response framework. Extreme weather events will only continue to increase in frequency and severity. We need not wait for the next disaster to begin addressing the underlying causes of vulnerability, predominantly poverty, resource scarcity, ecological degradation, and land loss.

Please donate today to grow our Pacific Resilience Fund for communities in the South Pacific.

Connect With Us

Pacific Peoples' Partnership
#407 620 View St., Victoria BC
Canada V8W 1J6

We want to hear from you!

Contact Information

Join Us On Social Media

About Us

For 45 years, Pacific Peoples’ Partnership has supported the aspirations of South Pacific Islanders and Indigenous peoples for peace, environmental sustainability, social justice and community development.

Read More

 

Pasifik Currents: Latest Posts