Could prayer stop climate change in Pacific

Transcript

Environmental campaigners are asking people to pray for the Pacific, in the hope of raising awareness about climate change.

The Pacific Climate Warriors network is calling on people of different faiths to collaborate and discuss the environmental difficulties that face island nations through prayer.

A spokesperson for the group, Koreti Tiumalu, who is based in Samoa, told Lucy Smith it is not about solving climate change with prayer, it is about getting more people involved with the cause.

KORETI TIUMALU: The reason why we're doing pray for our Pacific is because not only are we united by an ocean, by the impact of climate change but we're also very much faith communities as well.
We wanted to continue to fight for the Pacific Island in ways that make sense for us, and includes our community and praying is one of them. Without being able to engage our Pacific communities
we stand the chance of excluding a large section of our communities that we need to be engaged in this issue.

LUCY SMITH: For a lot of people they may assume that this is a campaign where you're asking people to pray in the idea that, that will then solve climate change, but it is a bit more than that isn't it?

KT: What it is also is that for those that aren't engaged, in what climate change is all about it gives them an opportunity to have some awareness, what we need to think about when we think about climate change is ensure that there is an understanding and awareness that is much broader than those who are at the those meetings. Our people who are affected who are affected, who are impacted, understand where those impacts come from. I think with understanding and awareness there comes power, a desire and a need to protect and nurture and to, to take seriously that duty of care for our Pacific islands.

LS: It's more than just understanding, I mean once people are informed what are you expecting will happen from that understanding?

KT: In being able to increase our awareness and united need to want to do something to protect our island, we'll be able to more powerfully tell our story and share our stories of what will happen to some of our people if we don't take action. The follow-up of this will definitely be now that we know, now that we're aware what can we do with this information.