The Greatest Challenge for the Pacific Islands - Climate Change

The clarion call for reducing carbon emissions was given to the industrialized world nearly 21 years ago by the small group of Pacific Islands whose highest peak reaches a mere 5 meters above sea level.

These tiny self-sustaining islands, facing the brunt of global climate change, are shrinking fast because of the increase in global warming and the subsequent rise in the sea level. However, most of the industrialized nations are refusing to face the problem in its entirety and are merely paying lip service to being committed to the environment cause.

How are the Pacific Islands being affected by climate change?

Tuvalu consists of nine islands with a land area of approximately 26 square kilometers. The highest peak is 5 meters above sea level. Approximately thirteen thousand people reside on these islands. Another island not far away is Kiribati, consisting of 33 atolls near the equator, which are on an average 2 meters above sea level. The islanders are watching their islands’ coastal erosion growing by the year as sea levels rise.

Kiribati is densely populated and has additional battles to fight. Drinking water is always a scarcity, while sewage and waste disposal have already reached extremities. Tuvalu saw almost 7 percent of its land washed away in 1997 during two severe cyclones.

At the World Environment Day in Wellington, the President of Kiribati called upon the member nations to stop viewing Green house gas emissions as an option. The President very succinctly said that while cutting back on emissions or achieving zero carbon footprints was an issue of debate to the industrialized nations, it was an issue of survival for the Pacific Islands. As most of the islands are very tiny, even insignificant climate changes become driving forces of erosion and the islands then shrink drastically.

What the islanders fear

Given the gradual rise in the sea levels and high incidence of coastal erosion, leaders of most Pacific islands are seeking assurance from big neighbors like New Zealand to relocate displaced Islanders.

Pacific Islands repeat the clarion call

Pacific Island leaders are sounding the alarm again across international forums and at climate change discussions and conferences. They are already facing the effects of global warming and are desperately seeking greater cooperation from the developed nations. The Islanders are requesting a post-2012 standard where the global average temperature increase cannot go beyond two degrees. Though environment experts say the islands will not be able to survive beyond a 1.5-degree increase, the Islanders are keeping their fingers crossed while fighting a losing battle against climate change that will eventually leave them with no more islands to call home.