scholarly journals Climate change and health in Pacific island states

2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (12) ◽  
pp. 819-819 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rokho Kim ◽  
Anthony Costello ◽  
Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum

Significance Australia holds its federal election this year, but Morrison’s visits are not an election push, they are part of Australia’s effort to increase influence among Pacific island states. Two issues, climate change and labour mobility, could complicate this. Impacts Pacific islands will hope for signs that their concerns about labour access to Australia are heeded in Canberra. The perception in Pacific island states that Canberra sees them as its ‘backyard’ could strain diplomacy. Some Pacific island states could sue Australia and Australia-based corporates over emissions and climate. With its government’s focus on green and labour issues, New Zealand may be nimbler in building ties with Pacific islands. Current opinion polling suggests that the opposition Labor party will win the Australian federal election.


2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 192-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasmine Ryan

Commentary: Pacific Island states battled to have their perspectives taken into account at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2009. Though widely accepted as being among the first victims of climate change, most developed countries, along with some emerging economies, put their own geopolitical interests ahead of what Pacific leaders argued was their right to survival as viable nations and cultures. The Pacific Island states negotiated collectively for shared goals, with Tuvalu often taking a leadership role. Australia and New Zealand, meanwhile, pursued strategies at marked odds with their smaller neighbours. Papua New Guinea broke ranks with other island nations, concentrating overwhelmingly on forestry negotiations to the exclusion of other common objectives. The PNG delegation also pushed to weaken the safeguarding of indigenous rights in the draft text on forestry. Much of the civil society present in Copenhagen, however, gave vocal support for the position taken by the Pacific Island states. This article is based largely on interviews with delegates and commentators at COP 15 in December 2009.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 266-279
Author(s):  
Sue Farran

Pacific Island states – sometimes classified as small island developing states, are among those most vulnerable to climate change and environmental degradation brought about by development initiatives such as logging, mining, commercial agriculture and tourism. While these may have economic benefits, many Fijians live in rural areas with limited or no opportunity for paid employment and rely on subsistence farming and natural resources for their livelihoods. The importance of the latter – particularly for many women – and increasing pressure on these resources, raise sustainability concerns. If natural resource environments are to be protected, restrictions – some of which are already in place – need to be not only enforced but possibly extended. This could, however, impact negatively on these dependent livelihoods. This article considers this dilemma in the context of two Fijian villages in the district of Ba, where women depend on the mangrove areas, primarily for catching crabs for sale in the local markets, using the money earned to meet basic needs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Janne von Seggern

Local and Indigenous knowledge systems worldwide indicate adaptation and mitigation strategies to climate change. Particularly in regions that are massively affected by climatic changes, such as the Pacific Island States, there is a need for increased and combined research on the role which these knowledge systems can play internationally. For this reason, this article provides a synthesis of empirical results and approaches to local and Indigenous climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies in selected South Pacific Island States by using a meta-ethnographic approach. The reviewed literature is associated with the sub-disciplinary perspective of the Anthropology of Climate Change. The results of the meta-ethnographic analysis are discussed based on three thematic focal points: First, the empirical ground of local understandings of climate change and its theoretical conceptualization(s) are constituted. Second, the results of practices for adaptation to climate change are synthesized and presented in detail throughout one example. Third, the synthesis of climate change mitigation practices is outlined with a specific focus on human-environment relationships.


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