Serua Island is a short boat ride from Fiji's mainland, the small island community needs to consider relocating as the sea level rises. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Caleb Fotheringham
The human rights of people living on small Pacific Islands are already being impeded due to climate change, a study in the Nature Climate Change publication says.
Outer island community in Fiji reluctant to relocate
The article follows the Vanuatu government seeking an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the legal responsibility of countries to act on climate change. The decision will likely be made early to mid-next year.
One of the authors, Ross Wastoby, said using a human rights lens to understand and address loss and damage would provide evidence supporting the ICJ submission.
Wastoby said ni-Vanuatu people were already experiencing loss and damage to their fundamental human rights, particularly a right to a healthy environment.
"In terms of Vanuatu, it's a pertinent time, it's been devastated by three cyclones in eight months, it's considered one of the most natural hazardous prone regions in the world," he said.
One participant, interviewed for the article, on Ambrym Island said cultural practices associated with the yam harvest are being lost due to delays in harvest times.
"The cultural ways of planting are not adaptive to these fast changes caused by the climate which is now leading to a loss of cultural practices and knowledge," they said.
"This is a cultural right that can never be recovered and rebuilt if we lose it to climate change.
"No financial means can recover those non-economic losses, which are our heritage and dignity."
Serua Island, a five-minute boat ride from Fiji's mainland, sits just above sea-level.
As the ocean threatens to swallow the island, 150 locals are forced with the prospect of moving.
Semisi Madanawa says the community on Serua Island are feeling the impacts of climate change. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Caleb Fotheringham
One of the villagers, Semisi Madanawa said water washes across the island during king tides and the seawall which was built about 20 years ago can no longer be relied on.
"When it comes it floods," Madanawa said. "We see the water going right into the island and we have seen some damage to the shoreline, the soil gets washed away."
In 2014 Fiji became the first Pacific island nation to relocate a community because of rising sea levels. Now Serua residents need to think about leaving because of sea level rise but villagers are reluctant to leave.
Taitusi Dradra from the island said property had been washed away in the past during storms.
"Most of the members of the community that live on the island do not want to relocate because the island is a part of their identity," Dradra said.
"This island is very important for them as most of their ancestors have been buried here and they do not want to leave them behind.
"They do not want to stay at another place while they watch their island and ancestors drown."
Taitusi Dradra from the island says property has been washed away during storms in the past. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Caleb Fotheringham
Another villager believes strongly her island will continue to survive despite the threat of climate change, calling it a "floating island".
"For me and my family, we can't leave this island, we love to stay in our island, in our heart we know that nothing is going to happen to our island," she said.
Loss and damage
On the agenda at COP28 that starts today in Dubai is figuring out how to operationalise the loss and damage fund.
At COP27 in Egypt last year, the establishment of a loss and damage fund was agreed to help vulnerable countries rebuild social and physical infrastructure after extreme weather events.
But the details of the fund have not been finalised.
Pacific Islands Climate Network (PICAN) regional coordinator Lavetanalagi Seru said it was one of the biggest priorities for Pacific nations at the meeting.
"This is a key moment to ensure that the loss and damage fund is fit for purpose, that it's able to also respond to the scale, to the urgency and the need," Seru said, adding "especially as we're living through an era of loss and damage."
Serua Island villagers share kava. Photo: RNZ Pacific / Caleb Fotheringham
Losses from climate change impacts can be both economic and non-economic.
Trauma resulting from climate change induced disasters could be considered a non-economic loss, Seru said.
He said some of the non-economic losses could be quantified but it becomes difficult in other instances, such as trying to figure out the cost associated with losing ancestral land.
"This is why we need a finance mechanism," he said.
"To support initiatives that are driven by the communities themselves, that recognises the unique challenges and also the opportunities to deal with this issue of non-economic loss and damage."
At the moment, there is some support for the loss and damage fund to be situated under the World Bank.
Seru said this was a problem because small developing states have historically had trouble working with the World Bank accessing finance because of bureaucracy and red tape.