While dealing with climate change seems to be a low priority for some, including our Australian government, urgency faces the small island countries of the Pacific.
Image Credit: Mike Roman
Australians are aware of the devastating effects of Cyclone Pam on Vanuatu. They are not so aware that some islands of Kiribati were also swamped by massive storm surges triggered by Pam. Much of the land is only three to four metres above sea level. The king tides washed over the sea wall on the lagoon side of Tarawa, the main island, flooding homes and infrastructure like the clinic in Betio and strewing them with coral debris. The government was forced to shut down the main causeway, linking Southern Tarawa to the island town of Betio. The lagoon is called Red Beach because of the killing of American soldiers there in WW II. Now the threat is from rising sea levels and more dangerous storms.
Wells, that previously the people could rely on for clean fresh water, have been further polluted by seawater because of pounding by five metre waves. Kiribati's residents battled to save livestock as flooding and winds caused further erosion. With few domestic rainwater tanks on Kiribati, many of the nation's 103,000 inhabitants along with livestock such as chickens and pigs raised for food are now in desperate need of clean fresh water.
Sr Kateia Kaikai is a Marist Mission Sister from Kiribati who has been volunteering in the Columban Mission Institute’s Centre for Peace, Ecology and Justice. She recently spoke about her worries for her homeland.
“I fear for the future of my nephew and niece. Will there be anything of our unique culture for them to learn or to carry forward? What will their future be like?
On a trip home last year, I saw much evidence of other changes taking place, affecting the landscape and lifestyle of the islands of South Tarawa where I am originally from. I could not visit beautiful fishing spots I used to know or go out in the outrigger canoe to some swimming places with my brother and Uncle because they have been ruined by coral bleaching. I didn’t see children or women collecting shellfish out in the sea at low tide. Most of the men now set out fishing at early dawn and return by 11 am before the sun gets very hot.
Life on Kiribati is getting tough. At first, the residents had a hard time accepting the fact that the oceans really are rising as a result of climate change. But with evidence and education they have been forced to. Families in my community are becoming resilient and innovative in finding creative ways to adapt.
Kiribati is known for a high rate of infant mortality, so parents are particularly careful to provide everyone with rain water or boiled ground water for drinking. My family spent money to install a water tank to collect rainwater that can be used for drinking and cooking. An overhead tank with a water pump is used to collect water from a well to use for laundry, watering the garden and for toilets and shower. However, most families in the community cannot afford tanks and pumps.
As the sea level rises, residents of Kiribati crowd onto less and less land. It is predicted that by 2050, Kiribati will lose a third of its GDP and most parts of the islands will suffer sea level intrusion.
We are the human faces of climate change and will possibly become the first island nation to lose our home – and along with it our fragile culture and identity, our language and traditions that are tied so strongly to our tiny atolls. But there is still hope that something can be done.
I urge uncommitted developed countries, like Australia, Russia and India to join the allied United Nations to end the use of fossil fuels and turn to Sustainable Energy. This is the most desirable action that will ensure a safe and promising future not just for Kiribati but for planet earth and the next generations who depend so much on what we do today. This is what I think Pope Francis will write about in his encyclical on Caring for Creation which will be out in June."
Sr Kateia Kaikai has finished her time at the Columban Mission Institute’s Centre for Peace, Ecology and Justice and is moving to a new ministry in Davao, Philippines.