‘Severe’ Outlook Says Caritas In Statement On The Oceania Environment – Scoop.co.nz

Tuesday, 5 October 2021, 6:28 amPress Release: Caritas Aotearoa

Caritas has shifted the dial to 'severe' for four of itsfive environmental indicators, while climate finance for thepoor has remained stubbornly at 'woefully inadequate' for 7years.

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has monitored fiveenvironmental issues affecting people of the Pacific since2015 through its State of the Environment for Oceaniareports. In conjunction with other Caritas Oceania membersand community-based partners throughout the Pacific, theyhave told the story of how extreme weather, rising seas andcoastal erosion, access to safe local food and water,offshore mining and drilling, and inadequate climate financesupporting the poor are affecting the peoples ofOceania.

Last week, almost 80 people gathered forCaritas Oceania's online talanoa "Towards our Future Home:Imagining the Future we Need" to consider the enviromentalchallanges and solutions facing the region, through theexperience of the poor.

The inter-related nature ofthe changes was illustrated by Caritas Tonga DirectorSuliana Falemaka: "Climate change is impacting our lands,coasts, water supplies and weather patterns. In Tonga, wehave longer and more frequent droughts People inlow-lying coastal areas are seeing stronger storm, surge andflood events; while saltwater is contaminating groundwaterand affecting drinking supplies."

KositatinoTikomaibolatagane of Caritas Fiji said, "Coastal erosion hasbeen affecting many communities in the Pacific, especiallyhere in Fiji. More than three communities have beenrelocated elsewhere and 40 more communities are in thepipeline for the government plan to relocate them due to theproblem of coastal erosion which resulted from sea levelrise. A road which was accessible to vehicles up till lastyear is not accessible anymore because erosion has destroyedit."

The talanoa also highlighted the need to fullyinvolve youth and Indigenous perspectives, and prioritisingbasic human rights to healthy food and safe drinking water."Technology needs to be used appropriately for the commongood. Youth and Indigenous perspective need to be fullyincorporated into problem solving. "

"If we look afterour land, it will look after us," said Mina Pomare-Peita,principal of TeKura Taumata O Panguru. "As Indigenous, we need to takeback and understand what time looks like for us. How do weobserve the seasons, how do we observe our land, our ocean,our sky, and from there, how do we createsolutions."

In November, thousands of people willgather in Glasgow for the COP26 meeting about theenvironment. Strong urgent action is needed on many frontsto turn things around for Oceania people directly impactedby sea level rise, coastal erosion and extreme weatherevents.

"The urgent transition away from fossil fuelscan't be used to justify other forms of exploitation ofpeople and nature," said Julianne Hickey, Director ofCaritas Aotearoa New Zealand. We continue our call for a banon seabed mining in both national and international waters.The people of Oceania rely on the ocean for theirlivelihoods. Seabed mining puts all that atrisk".

"The latest IPCC report in August warned ofhuge climatic changes for us all. But it also signalled, bigchanges in behaviour by us now could start to start to makea difference in 20 years," said Julianne Hickey. "That's along time politically, but it's not a long time to make areal difference for our children's children."

Furthersupporting material can be found on the Caritas website: http://www.caritas.org.nz/state-environment.

Scoop Media

Become a member Find out more

Go here to read the rest:

'Severe' Outlook Says Caritas In Statement On The Oceania Environment - Scoop.co.nz