Collaboration & Team Work a Must to Combat Climate Change

By Lagi Keresoma

Apia, SAMOA – 22 May 2024– Samoa’s Prime Minister, Fiame Dr. Naomi Mata’afa, officially opened the fourth iteration of the Pacific Ocean Pacific Climate Change Conference (POPCCC), reminding that Pacific communities are already amongst the worst affected by the escalating climate change crisis.

“For Pacific countries, this is already their lived reality,” she said.

The three day high level conference is jointly organised by the National University of Samoa (NUS), the Pacific Climate Change Centre (PCCC) hosted at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington (VUW), the conference is guided by the theme: ‘Our Ocean, Our Home: Climate Resilience for a Blue Pacific.’

The conference theme is ‘Our Ocean, Our Home: Climate Resilience for a Blue Pacific.’

“Many of them already experience higher temperatures, shifts in rainfall patterns, rising sea levels and altered frequency and intensity of extreme climate events,” said Fiame.

Victoria University Assistant Vice Chancellor for Pasifika, Associate Professor Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban said the Pacific region is already amongst the worst affected by the climate change crisis and she highlighted the need to collaborate and come together to address the issue in-order to survive.

“Responding to climate change is all about cooperation, we need to work together to help each other, this is especially true across the Pacific, including our Ocean, the biggest ocean in the world,” she said.

Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa and Victoria University Assistant Vice Chancellor  Luamanuvao  Winnie Laban.

Luamanuvao said POPCCC is a perfect platform to promote sustainable solutions and innovations for mitigating and adapting to climate change in the Pacific region, as well as to advocate for global climate action and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

SPREP’s Director General, Sefanaia Nawadra said “the theme and the meeting speak volumes of the need for commitment and a dedicated space through this conference to share the science that we are doing and discuss what science is needed to better manage our Pacific Islands region to allow our Pacific Island communities to thrive and prosper.”

Tradition & Science key to understanding human response
It is not the first-time traditional methods and knowledge have come into the equation of climate change discussion despite the belief that traditional methods are outdated while science is the way of the future.

However, in recent years, traditional knowledge has become the focus in some discussions and debates.

Luamanuvao believes combining traditional knowledge and science is the key to a broader understanding of the issues and the human response to them.

“The conference aims to foster the weaving of knowledge and we can each play a vital role in capacity building through our partnerships across the Blue Pacific, our home,” she said.

SPREP’s Deputy Director Esther Chu Shing , Mathew E. Andersen Senior – Scientist for Biology of the Office of the Director International Program & SPREP’s Director General, Sefanaia Nawadra.

Fiame also believes that strong traditions, cultures, and adaptability to the unique characteristics of their environment and geography have fostered resilient communities over centuries; however, climate change poses a considerable threat to their future.

“Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face a unique set of vulnerabilities which impede their ability to achieve sustainable development and we know that natural disasters will increase in frequency and severity as long as climate change remains unaddressed,” she said.

She reiterated the importance of such conferences where leaders come together to find solutions.

“We, the leaders of the Pacific, have been collectively calling to amplify ambitious global action to limit global warming below 1.5C in order for us to secure the future of our Blue Pacific,” she said.

“The 2050 Strategy of the Blue Pacific Continent as our  ‘North Star’ articulates our 30 Year strategy that responds to the Pacific region’s important challenges in environment and sustainable development.”

The attendees to the conference include an elite group of professors and science specialists from various universities in the Pacific region speaking on their researches, experiences and way forward to secure and safeguard the Pacific from the impact of climate change.