A report by the charity said Pacific Islanders were already feeling the effects of global warming, including food and water shortages, rising cases of malaria and more frequent flooding and storms. Some had already been forced from their homes and the number of displaced people was rising, it warned. "The Future is Here: Climate Change in the Pacific" predicted that many Pacific Islanders would not be able to relocate within their own countries and would become international refugees. It urged neighbouring wealthy countries to take urgent action to curb their carbon emissions to prevent a large-scale crisis. Half of the population of the Pacific live less than 1.5km from the coast and are incredibly vulnerable to sea-level rise and extreme weather. But as well as moving out, the report found that some countries had started adapting to the changing climate. Fiji is attempting to "climate-proof" its villages by testing salt-resistant varieties of staple foods, planting mangroves and native grasses to halt coastal erosion in order to protect wells from salt water intrusion, and moving homes and community buildings away from vulnerable coastlines. In the Solomon Islands officials are looking for land to resettle people from low-lying outer atolls, and those living in the outer atolls of the Federated States of Micronesia were also moving to higher ground. The tiny nation of Tuvalu also recently pledged to become carbon neutral by 2020. Andrew Hewett, Oxfam Australia Executive Director, said it was vital that Australia started working with Pacific governments to plan for the impact of climate change. As the wealthiest country in the region and the highest per capita polluter, Australia "must prevent further climate damage to the Pacific by urgently adopting higher targets" - reducing emissions by at least 40 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 - and urging other developed countries to do the same, the report said. The Australian government's commitment of $150 million (£75m) to help Pacific Islanders adapt to climate change needed to at least double, it said. "It would be in Australia's interests to act now because, as the situation worsened, it would be called on to respond to more emergencies in the region," Mr Hewett told the Sydney Morning Herald. With only months to go until the crucial UN negotiations in Copenhagen in December, Australia needed to show Pacific leaders it was willing to do its fair share to address one of the most pressing challenges in the region, he said. "People are already leaving their homes because of climate change, with projections that 75 million people in the Asia-Pacific region will be forced to relocate by 2050 if climate change continues unabated. Not all will have the option of relocating within their own country, so it's vital that the Australian Government starts working with Pacific governments to plan for this now." Pacific leaders will raise the issue of climate change with Kevin Rudd, the Australian prime minister, at the Pacific Islands Forum on Aug 4. http://news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/climate-change-threatens-pacific-isles-20090727-dydv.html "For countries like Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tokelau, the Marshall Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia, climate change is not something that could happen in the future but something they are experiencing now," Oxfam said. New Zealand and Australia need to take urgent action against climate change to stop neighbouring Pacific Islands becoming uninhabitable, Oxfam says. Millions of people from developing Pacific nations faced increased risk from cyclones, storm surges, king tides and ecosystem destruction due to climate change, the development agency said in a report released on Monday. "Without a significant effort by developed countries now, some island nations in the Pacific face the very real threat of becoming uninhabitable in the decades ahead," the report's writers said. People living in poorer Pacific nations already faced higher rates of malarial infection, more frequent flooding and were losing land and being forced from their homes, Oxfam said. "It makes financial sense to act now, given that for every dollar spent on disaster preparedness and risk reduction, two to ten dollars is saved in disaster response." The report called for New Zealand and Australia to reduce carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2020 and by 95 per cent by 2050. On Sunday, New Zealand's Climate Change Minister Nick Smith said a 40 per cent cut by 2020, compared to 1990, was neither achievable nor affordable and would have too great an economic impact. However, the Oxfam report recommended urgent action to avoid being forced into making more drastic choices in coming decades. "It is in Australia and New Zealand's best interests to take this action now. "The more frequent disasters caused by climate change will require Australia and New Zealand to respond, and the displacement of people in the Pacific due to rising sea levels will force them to look for new homelands," the report's writers said. By 2050, eight million people in the Pacific Islands may need to find new places to live, along with 75 million people in the Asia Pacific region, it said. Oxfam advised the governments of developed nations to begin considering how to deal with the looming issue. The development agency supported a "polluter pays" scheme where New Zealand should pay $NZ792 million ($A637.3 million) and Australia $A43 billion to help repair the environmental costs of developing their economies. Oxfam called for more resources to be directed toward tapping into local knowledge, as well as a renewed focus on sustainable livelihoods, food sources and water supplies. Oxfam also warned of increasing coral bleaching, where climatic change kills the organisms making up the coral, causing the surrounding ecosystem to collapse. Also, Pacific reefs faced a "significantly reduced ability" to provide food - for both local people and fishermen coming for tuna and other high-value fish. The report writers also called attention to research probing the link between climate change and health, specifically mentioning the spread of malaria and dengue fever. In Papua New Guinea's Western Highlands, researchers had recorded a large jump in the number of reported cases of malaria, from 638 in 2000 to 4,986 in 2005. "For countries like Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tokelau, the Marshall Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia, climate change is not something that could happen in the future but something they are experiencing now," Oxfam said. © 2009 NZPA
Climate change to force 75 million Pacific Islanders from their homes
More than 75 million people living on Pacific islands will have to relocate by 2050 because of the effects of climate change, Oxfam has warned.
July 27, 2009 - 2:59PM
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