Adaption: hope in the face of an increasingly bleak future

The news has not provided much hope in recent years regarding the welfair of Earths residents concerning Climate Change. News of the Planet hitting the symbolic threshold of 400 ppm makes Climate Change feel ever more real. Reaching 400 parts per million (ppm) will mean generations to come will not see this number to fall within their lifetime. 

In 2015, for the first time, CO2 levels in the atmosphere were at 400 ppm on average across the year as a whole, the World Meterorological Organisation's (WMO) annual greenhouse gas bulletin reveals. 

However, in the wake of these disturbing truths, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) met on the 5^th October 2016 to discuss resilience building, and their potential to boost economic growth. The event highlighted the role SIDS could play as innovators of climate resilience.

Two panels discussed, how islands can serve as resilience “incubators,” and what other countries can learn from them about adaptation and dealing with climate risk.

In the opening session, Angus Friday, Grenada’s ambassador to the US and former Head of the Alliance Of Small Island States (AOSIS), highlighted that much work has already been done on the “soft” aspects of institutional capacity and institution building, including stakeholder engagement, communication and public awareness. He noted, however, that many homes in his country are not hurricane-proof, in the way that homes are in some of the wealthier SIDS. He added that damage for Hurricane Ivan had amounted to 200% of Grenada’s GDP and destroyed 90% of homes, and that there is “a bricks-and-mortar element” to managing climate risk.

Friday suggested that countries’ Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) under the Paris Agreement on climate change could be the starting point for resilience building measures that promote economic opportunities – for example, through investments in renewable energy that can alleviate the high amount that SIDS households currently spend on electricity powered by imported fossil fuels. He also emphasized the possibility of using public sector funds to leverage private sector investments, highlighting Grenada’s development of a prospectus for international investors on potential investments in tourism, fisheries and projects that will build natural capital.

Multilateral discussions of Climate Change, resilience building and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) inevitably centre round financing. Attention was drawn to the way that SIDS in the African region are using debt-for adaptation swaps to raise financing for marine protected areas (MPAs). Many SIDS encompass far more ocean territory than land and therefore should invest in marine spatial planning to ensure the sustainable development of marine areas surrounding MPAs.

An example would be Seychelles ongoing cooperation with The Nature Conservancy and the World Bank, and its work on issuing ‘blue bonds’ to support sustainable fisheries. Seychelles and Mauritius will be supporting Oceans Day at COP22, they will play a leading role in promoting African countries’ involvement in strengthening ocean resilience. 

Artful poetry used to spread the message of climate change

The Pacific Islands may not be known for their poetry, but powerful young voices writing and speaking on issues such as climate change, colonialism, language, identity, sexuality and sovereignty have been catching the attention of the art community (NBC News, 2016). One in particular, Kathy Jetnill-Kiljner, from the Marshall Islands (Perez, 2016). This artistic take on climate change comes at a good time as, increasingly, journalists and climate change advocates become frustrated by the lack of / poor reporting of climate change – especially in the Pacific Islands (Koroi, 2016).

Kathy was chosen to address the UN members on 23^rd September 2014 for the opening of the Climate Change Summit in New York. She represented civil society and delivered an emotional speech aimed at world leaders to address and find solutions on the issue of climate change, which the Pacific Island nations are already feeling the effects of. She ended her speech with a poem she originally wrote for her seven month old daughter. She received a standing ovation, a rare sight among the world leaders in the U.N. headquarters. She is a poet, climate change activist, mother, teacher, and performing artist (Perez, 2016). She is not the only one however, speaking up against the injustices faced in the South Pacific. William Alfred Nu'utupu Giles, is another, he is a Samoan-American poet living in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is a Kundiman Fellow, works at the non-profit Pacific Tongue promoting artistic expression in the Oceanic community. He is a Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam Champion, and is the 2015 National Underground Poetry Slam Champion (NBC News, 2016). These are two of the growing community of people rising up against the oppression of climate change, using artistic means to express their struggle.

Videos of the various poets can be found on the NBC website

Pause on Pacific

I am not from the Pacific region, and I know many of my readers aren’t too, so I thought you may want to have a look at the easy read summary of COP21, provided by the BBC, which has no specific focus on the Pacific region. 

Also a really simple 5 point summary on what COP21 means for change, written by UCL lecturer Simon Lewis and a business related one from the Carbon Trust

PacificCOP21 – will it produce any meaningful results?

As COP21 draws to a close, WHO secretary shoots down the haters (critics) of Climate Change, and points to the Pacific islands as the example of how climate change has already caused devastating irreversible damage. The first ever climate refugees are emerging as some islands are submerging into the sea (Odiwuor, 2015).

Dame Taylor, Pacific Ocean Commissioner told COP21 it has never been so important to amplify the Pacific voice. Inaction will undermine our development aspirations and will result in the destruction of unique and diverse cultures as well as the failure of the Sustainable Development Goals (Pittman, 2015). Indeed this has been the time were the Pacific islands have an elevated voice. With their influence a more ambitious target of 1.5 degrees has been put forward, below the previous 2 degree target. Their role has highlighted moral issues, detracting from the usual concerns of economic concerns from the more polluting nations (Velde, 2015).

While most countries think of Climate Change in terms of economic costs, the Pacific islands picture a world map without them on it. Rising seas are already eroding coast line and contaminating freshwater wells. Many are threatened by increases in severity and frequency of typhoons and hurricanes, as well as the very real threat of having no land left to survive on. The vulnerability of the small islands provides them with an elevated platform despite their low impact on world affairs (Ritter, 2015).  

At the start of the Paris talks last week, U.S. President Barack Obama met with five leaders of island nations. Secretary of State John Kerry has been discussing the envisioned Paris deal with others, including Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga of Tuvalu, the poster child of disappearing islands (Ritter, 2015).

The Europeans too, have been reaching out to small island leaders whom they see as useful allies in their attempts to get a strong binding climate pact at the conference which ends later today. The Islands are asking for a 'loss and damage' mechanism to ensure when they are hit by climate impacts such as extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change. This has made wealthy nations nervous. Originally the US did not want to be part of the agreement at all, worried it would pave the way for claims of liability and compensation. In the latest draft they suggested mentioning it in a section on adaptation to climate change (Ritter, 2015).  But the small islands want a seperate section for 'loss and damage' to show it is not about adapting to climate change, but coping with unavoidable impacts, said Thoriq Ibrahim, the environment minister of the Maldives and chair of an alliance of small island nations (Ritter, 2015). In one of the first projects to be approved by the Green Climate Fund, a UN programme for poor nations impacted by climate change, the Maldives will receive $23.6 million to secure freshwater supply on its outer islands. An action which is set to become more often as climate change continues to adversely affect these small nations (Ritter, 2015).

The prospect of reparations to island countries for the cost of adapting to climate change has caused a rift among parties to the climate negotiations and raised fiendishly complex ethical and legal questions. It can be seen as the moral challenge of our time, no one nation can take full responsibility of climate change, yet some form of support should be given to those suffering, which are generally the countries that have contributed the least to climate change. These moral issues need to encourage rich nations to take joint responsibility avoiding any blame, to help the nations most in need (Velde, 2015).  

Pacific islands, and more specifically the talks between the islands and the US has provided pressure on other developed nations to increase their targets, one being New Sealand along with more than 100 other countries. They now back the so-called 'high amnition' target to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees as the global climate change talks in Paris head into what may be a final long night of negotiations (Smellie, 2015). 

Mr Groser, New Zealands Climate Change Minister, is confident that the Paris conference will produce more favourable and impactful results than Copenhagen (Smellie, 2015). 

Small update but big role for the Pacific region to play

Pacific islands play vital role in advancing action on climate change says Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Mr Ban encourages the Pacific region to be more vocal in the Climate debates, especially with COP 21 just around the corner (abc news, 2015). It can build political momentum to resolve outstanding issues, it can call on the major economies to raise their level of ambition (UN News Centre, 2015).

References

Abc news (2015) ‘The latest: North Korea’s FM presses US for Peace Treaty’ [Online] http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-bosnia-herzegovina-touts-democracy-34175520

UN News Centre (2015) ‘Pacific Islands play vital role in advancing action on climate change, Ban tells leaders’ [Online] http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52089#.VhBVhPlViko

Climate Refugees not to be forgotten in the Pacific region

Seeing as migration and refugees have been a big focus in the media recently it only seems fitting to observe the same theme in the Pacific Islands. In the second week of October Kiribati is hosting an international conference to discuss the issue of climate change refugees. The conference will bring together the atoll nations from the Pacific region and key international agencies (Radio New Zealand, 2015).

The IPCC has said atoll nations will be submerged in 30 years or less. Unfortunately recent studies have suggested this prediction may be more generous than thought (USGS, 2015). Although a small period of time, it allows enough warning for plans to be put in place to allow citizens to migrate in a way they would feel more dignified. Multi-lateral process and negotiations are taking too long so this meeting will be able to transfer ideas and concerns between the effected nations and relevant agencies (Radio New Zealand, 2015). Australia and New Zealand are already helping labour mobility programs, some countries in the Pacific region are providing skills for young people to better understand how to equip themselves with the issues to come. This demonstrates that actions are already been taken, but more countries need to be on board for accepting migrants, and the ones already doing so need to prepare for a larger intake (World Summit, 2015).

More needs to be done in the countries effected also. More labour mobility programmes to allow greater opportunities for these people to migrate and become citizens of other countries. These negotiations will also be discussing the need for more international law concerning the environment. Discussions with Switzerland and Norway about their Nansen initiative should help develop a law to cover climate induced migration (Kiribati Climate Change, 2015). With these concerns COP 21 is a very significant event that is coming up, and it is hoped that COP 21 will create more concrete plans on what to do next in the climate change battle (Radio New Zealand, 2015).

References

Kiribati Climate Change (2015) ‘EU announces $23 million Euro for Kiribati’ [Online] http://www.climate.gov.ki/tag/kiribati-president-anote-tong/

USGS (2015) 'Many atolls may be uninhabitable within decades due to climate change' [Online] http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4346#.VhBVpvlViko

World Summit (2015) ‘Anote Tong’ [Online] http://www.worldsummit2015.org/sunhak-peace-prize/laureates/anote-tong


Radio New Zealand (2015) ‘Climate change migration the focus of Kiribati Summit’ [Online] http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/201772925/climate-change-migration-the-focus-of-kiribati-summit

Flying Foxes flying over our heads

In previous blogs I have recognised the fact that animals are being adversely affected by the effects of climate change. My main focus has been primarily on birds (e.g. the Honeycreepers) , there are some less well known mammals which are also being put in danger: these are the Flying Foxes. These are large bats which are limited in worldwide distribution due to their tropical diet of nectar, blossom, pollen and fruit (Vardon 1995). 

They are a threatened species generally but especially in the Pacific where cultural traditions and reliance on farming makes them more of a target from humans (Vardon 1995). In the Mariana Islands they are considered a local delicacy, the Maldives believe they cure asthma, and farmers attack the bats because they feed on their plantations. 

The Mortlocks and other low lying coralline islands seem to be in the most trouble (Welbergen 2008). Aside from the loss of land on islands which are already very small, sea water encroachment into the water table along with more frequent total or near total inundation of the islands during storm surges would eliminate the food and roosting sites on which the bats currently depend (Buden 2013). the Volcanic islands will provide a safer environment for the flying fox which provides hope that extinction is not definite. There is concern that climate change will affect weather patterns which will affect vegetation type and food resources (Buden 2013). It is important to remember these lesser known species as some can be forgotten and can be led to extinction. One of the most recently confirmed mammalian extinctions was the Christmas Island pipistrelle, which scientists believed vanished forever in 2009 (Buden 2013). Therefore we should provide more focus on protecting the flying fox and other less known species. 

 Buden D W, Helgen KM, Wiles GJ (2013) Taxonomy, distribution, and natural history of flying foxes (Chiroptera: Pteropodidae) in the Mortlock Islands and Chuuk State, Caroline Islands.
Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2013/1028-hance-mortlock-bats.html#TmMpSCfVKoIt1R3J.99

Vardon, M.J. & Tidemann, C.R. (1995) Harvesting of flyingfoxes (Pteropus spp.) in Australia: could it promote the conservation of endangered Pacific island species? In Conservation through sustainable use of wildlife (eds G. Grigg, P. Hale & D. Lunney), pp. 82–85, Brisbane, Australia.

Welbergen, J.; Klose, S.; Markus, N.; Eby, P. (2008). "Climate change and the effects of temperature extremes on Australian flying-foxes". Proceedings. Biological sciences / the Royal Society 275 (1633): 419–425.