At conference last week in Tahiti some delegates claimed climate change could to drown some Islands in French Polynesia. The effects of rising tides in the region were part of discussions involving politicians and scientists from France, the European Union and the Pacific Island region in Papeete. Delegates have heard that French Polynesia’s 270,000 inhabitants Read more
A deal brokered in the final hours of UN climate talks at the weekend is a “betrayal of people across the world”, Christian Aid has said. The development agency’s climate expert Mohamed Adow said the deal reached at Durban, South Africa, had saved the talks but endangered the lives of people living in poverty. Climate Read more
Young people from the Pacific Islands joined those from Africa to march to the United States government delegation office at the UN Climate Talks in Durban last Friday to deliver a letter asking the super-power to “not sign our death sentence in Durban”. The letter urged the nation to either lead or get out of Read more
Caritas Internationalis President Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga says failure at UN climate talks in Durban is a “moral apartheid” that cannot be allowed to happen. “Just as South Africa’s Apartheid era policies sought divisions along race lines, today the world’s environment and energy policies divide man from nature,” said the Cardinal. Midway through the Climate Read more
The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, has questioned the cost benefits of financing action to curb climate change, such as funding clean, renewable energy. Speaking at the annual lecture of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), a climate sceptic think tank he said “The cost of attempts to make global warming go away Read more
The Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne has called on the nation’s leaders to show great wisdom and compassion as they respond to the national and global effects of climate change. In his President’s Address to the 50th Synod of the Diocese of Melbourne on Wednesday, Archbishop Philip Freier highlighted the plight of Australia’s Pacific neigbours. “This month the Read more
The annual Caritas Oceania forum, which began in Auckland on 3 October, was attended by representatives from eight different nations. About 25 people attended the week-long event, including representatives from Caritas Internationalis, and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) – Asia. Many of the states represented, such as Tonga and Kiribati, are among the most vulnerable to Read more
The Australian Uniting Church support for Tuvalu is being provided through partnership with Christian Church of Tuvalu and in close contact with church leaders in Tuvalu. The population of Tuvalu is 11,500. The Church of Tuvalu is by far the largest church, 97% of the population. Besides the small Catholic Church, less than 0.5%, there are Read more
There aren’t too many nuns who are also water engineers. Marella Rebgetz, is a water engineer nun. She has a degree in water management. She is employed by the government of Kiribati to help address that country’s critical water needs caused by the rising sea level and the increasing salination of drinking water. One of the Read more
Overcrowding is becoming a serious problem in Kiribati and Solomon Islands and rising sea levels are also expected to lead to further climate change refugees. Australia and New Zealand have been told to expect more migration from their Pacific neighbours. Speaking to Cook Islands, Fiji, Filipino, Hong Kong, Indian, Kiribati, New Zealand, Niuean, Samoan and Read more