The power of story-telling for water and climate

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (53) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bronwyn Powell ◽  
Sarah Ransom
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Story Telling ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Power Of Story ◽  
Looking Back

Looking back on COP26, we argue that there is power in telling stories about adaptation to water-related climate change impacts in Australia and the Pacific.

Adaptation to Climate Change in Small Island Developing States: A Systematic Literature Review of Academic Research

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 196-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carola Klöck ◽  
Patrick D. Nunn
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Adaptation Strategies ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Small Island Developing States ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Island States ◽  
Vulnerability To Climate Change ◽  
The Pacific

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share a common vulnerability to climate change. Adaptation to climate change and variability is urgently needed yet, while some is already occurring in SIDS, research on the nature and efficacy of adaptation across SIDS is fragmentary. In this article, we systematically review academic literature to identify where adaptation in SIDS is documented; what type of adaptation strategies are taken, and in response to which climate change impacts; and the extent to which this adaptation has been judged as successful. Our analysis indicates that much adaptation research is concentrated on the Pacific, on independent island states, and on core areas within SIDS. Research documents a wide array of adaptation strategies across SIDS, notably structural or physical and behavioral changes. Yet, evaluation of concrete adaptation interventions is lacking; it thus remains unclear to what extent documented adaptation effectively and sustainably reduces SIDS’ vulnerability and increases their resilience.

Climate-Migration Responses in the Pacific Region

2018 ◽  
pp. 296-314
Author(s):  
Celia McMichael ◽  
Carol Farbotko ◽  
Karen E. McNamara
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Adaptive Response ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Adaptive Agents ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Negligible Contribution

There is widespread understanding that migration can represent an adaptive response to emerging and realized climate threats. However, the concept of “migration as adaptation” positions vulnerable populations as adaptive agents who can and even must migrate in response to climate change impacts, despite their often negligible contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. The Pacific islands region is widely viewed as an iconic site of climate change impacts and subsequent climate migration risk. This chapter discusses three Pacific countries—Fiji, Tuvalu, and Kiribati—and explores how people and government officials in these countries respond to the dynamic discursive, policy, social, and biophysical domains of “migration as climate change adaptation.”

A new way to quickly estimate climate change impacts on rivers and streams

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie A. Vano ◽  
Meghan M. Dalton
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
North America ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
New Method ◽  
Conventional Model ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Rivers And Streams ◽  
Change Impact

We outline a new method that offers quick insights into how the amount of water in rivers and streams will be impacted by warmer temperatures and future precipitation change. This method yields comparable results to more conventional model-intense climate change impact studies and is faster and cheaper to implement, making it a practical alternative for those exploring future water supply changes in places with limited computational access. Using rivers and streams in the Pacific Northwest of North America as an example, we share what this new method can (and cannot) do, and highlight the steps one could take to quickly begin exploring how climate change could impact their water supply.

scholarly journals Recent Developments in International Climate Change Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 294-309
Author(s):  
Sarah Mead ◽  
Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Loss And Damage ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
International Climate ◽  
International Climate Change

Abstract This article discusses recent developments in international climate change law, in respect of which Pacific island countries and territories (PICs) have made a particularly significant contribution. PICs have been instrumental in shaping the international climate change treaty regime since its inception in the early 1990s. Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, however, progress has stalled – and even more so since the global pandemic. With a focus on the Suva Declaration on Climate Change released prior to negotiations in Paris, this article assesses progress in two areas that have received considerable attention from PIC representatives due to their importance to the region: the long-term temperature goal and the Talanoa Dialogue; and the issue of loss and damage. While PICs have managed to make gains in both areas, climate change science indicates that current global efforts are insufficient to avoid catastrophic climate change impacts for the Pacific region. In light of this, certain PIC leaders are looking outside of the international treaty system for other ways to protect their communities and ecosystems.

scholarly journals Climate Change Migration and Displacement: Learning from Past Relocations in the Pacific

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tabe
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Pacific Islands ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Adaptation Strategy ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Forced Relocation

It has been projected that the single greatest impact of environmental changes will be on human migration and displacement. Migration has been extensively discussed and documented as an adaptation strategy in response to environmental changes, and more recently, to climate change. However, forced relocation will lead to the displacement of people, and although much has been written about it, very little has been documented from the Pacific Islands perspective, especially by communities that were forced to relocate as a result of colonialism and those that have been forced to migrate today as a result of climate change impacts. Using the Gilbertese resettlement from the Phoenix Islands to the Solomon Islands, in particular, Wagina Island in the 1960s as a case study of forced relocation and displacement of Pacific Islands people during the colonial period, this paper aims to underline some of the important lessons that can be learned from this historical case to inform the present and future challenges of climate change migration and displacement. Without dismissing migration as a coping strategy, the paper argues that the forced relocation of people from their home islands as a result of climate change will lead to displacement. It accentuates that in the case of Pacific Islands, forced relocation will lead to displacement if they are forced to leave their land because of their deep relationship and attachment to it. The paper also emphasizes the need to acknowledge and honor Pacific Islands’ voices and perceptions in discourses on climate change migration and displacement at national, regional and international forums.

scholarly journals Climate Change, Health and Mosquito-Borne Diseases: Trends and Implications to the Pacific Region

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (24) ◽  
pp. 5114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Walter Leal Filho ◽  
Svenja Scheday ◽  
Juliane Boenecke ◽  
Abhijit Gogoi ◽  
Anish Maharaj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Climate Change Impacts ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Public Health Action ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Health Action ◽  
The One ◽  
Pacific Island Nations ◽  
Research Initiatives

Climate change is known to affect Pacific Island nations in a variety of ways. One of them is by increasing the vulnerability of human health induced by various climate change impacts, which pose an additional burden to the already distressed health systems in the region. This paper explores the associations between climate change and human health on the one hand, and outlines some of the health care challenges posed by a changing climate on the other. In particular, it describes the links between climate variations and the emergence of climate-sensitive infectious diseases, such as the mosquito-borne diseases dengue, chikungunya, and Zika. The paper also presents a summary of the key findings of the research initiatives Climate Change and Prevalence Study of ZIKA Virus Diseases in Fiji and the findings from the World Mosquito Program as two examples of public health action in the Pacific region.

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