Transcript
In Tuvalu, the devastating impacts of climate change are already clear.
"The impacts are becoming very visible. Islands are disappearing, coastals are being eroded, corals are beingspoke bleached. So the sources of our livelihood are being challenged. And life has become very difficult."
That's Tafue Lusama - a local church minister who's focussed his PHD theology studies on climate change.
He spoke of the economic effects rising sea levels has had on the islands.
"That has forced the people into a marketplace lifestyle which is very expensive because very minimal percentage of the population earn regular salaries to cater to that kind of lifestyle. So dependency has become the norm of life in Tuvalu."
And while locals are threatened with emigration, Mr Lusama says it's not an option.
"Migration, whether it is migration with dignity or migration by itself is not looked at as an option now. We'd rather fight until the end, than throwing the white towel in and say 'We surrender'."
He says the loss of their islands will mean the death of their culture.
"When you relocate a whole country, cross border into another country, their distinctiveness and their identity will be lost. You know, they will become second, third or even fourth class citizens and assimilate into a totally different culture which is not theirs. And that's a reality. Tuvalu as a nation, as a people, will disappear."
While rising sea levels makes climate change visible in countries around the Pacific, Maxine Burkett from the University of Hawai'i says other effects are happening all around the world.
She says she doesn't think the general public have really grasped the reality of climate change.
"Climate change is a change that is also accelerating. The heat indexes that we're seeing all over the globe, and those don't happen in isolation. That happens on top of a storm, which happens on top of the lack of fresh water or drought experiences that produce mudslides so it's a cascade of effects."
Ms Burkett is an expert in the law and policy of climate change.
She says there's a gap in the way that people on the ground are experiencing the effects of climate change and the way that political leaders around the world are responding to it.
Professor Kevin Clements who is the Director of the Toda Peace Institute, agrees.
He says leaders around the world aren't paying enough attention to the climate change effects in the South Pacific.
"They are focussing a lot of attention on Northern hemisphere, on Africa and on Asia and so Oceania, to some extent, is a region which is bearing the brunt of climate change but which is somewhat marginal to these global analyses."
Mr Clements says building on the traditional wisdom and Pacific people's understanding of their own environment is key.
"How do we learn from indigenous stories and incorporate those narratives into western policy prescriptions."
Reverend. Dr. Upolu Vaai - Head of Theology and Ethics at the Pacific Theological College in Fiji, says that's a challenge.
"The narrative, the climate change narrative has been dominated by either the scientific world view or perspective or the economic perspective where the indigenous perspective and indigenous world views are often excluded."
Both Dr Vaai and Mr Lusama say young people also need to be a part of the conversation.
"The next generation is very important in this journey and in continuing the story."
"My advice to the young people is that 'Your time is today. We cannot do it alone.' We need them to stand up and join the fight to save the planet. So let us join hands together."
Mr Clements says he's hopeful that young people can forge communities that, in future, will be able to respond to the major impacts of climate change.
