SavethePacificIslands

Many in the Pacific may be forced to relocate as a result of climate change. This has been mentioned before but the urgency can never be over-reported. What we fear may soon be a reality. The tiny low lying island nations such as Tuvalu and Kiribati may soon be forced to face this dreadful fate. The Pacific Climate Change Roundtable (PCCR) Conference recently convened at the National University of Samoa, during which it was discussed that relocation was at present still on option. This is good news, as it means that there is still time for us to stop climate change.

Relocation is obviously a sensitive issue. Director of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), Asterio Takesy was right to point out that “what people value as their culture is unthinkable for someone to leave behind.” We, especially in the developed world, should not sit back and label those in the Pacific as climate change refugees. There is still time and hope. The term climate change refugee should never be used to label anyone.

http://www.samoaobserver.ws/local/LNPages/1008/1508ln004.htm