No other country in the world has the courage or compassion like Fiji to come forward and help the people of Kiribati and Tuvalu. Kiribati President Anote Tong publicly thanked the nation of Fiji in a speech at the Paris climate summit for agreeing to take in his people should the worst come to pass. “It’s Read more
Pacific voices have been heard at the Climate Change Conference in Paris, COP21. “It is through the actions of civil society and small island nations that the agreement recognises we need to keep a global temperature limit well below 2C, and work towards a limit of 1.5C to protect the most vulnerable states,” says Caritas Read more
A new study found that over the last decade, 15 percent of people in Tuvalu (population 10,857), 10 percent of people in Nauru (population 10,084) and 1.3 percent of people in Kiribati (population 103,058) moved abroad. Many others — about 10,000 — tried to migrate, but could not. Others became “internal migrants,” placing strains on Read more
Climate change—much like ethnic cleansing—singles out certain populations, presenting migration problems every bit as serious as those of political, religious, and ethnic refugees. Extinction is hardly less serious than genocide, yet its quarry have no legal basis to relocate. Pasifika nations have little to no voice in international energy policy, and exert, at most, limited Read more
Pope Francis sent a pair of papal shoes for an art installation in Paris in support of climate change action ahead of the COP21 meeting. The papal shoes – black Oxfords – joined thousands of other sneakers, slippers and pumps in a symbolic march at the Place de la Republique. The art installation was a Read more
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand Director, Julianne Hickey, is bringing the voices of Pacific peoples affected by climate change to a global audience at the historic Paris Climate Change conference (COP 21) in December. She is one of only two leaders to represent the 165 member organisations of the Caritas Internationalis confederation and will speak at an event Read more
The service, ‘Prayer For Our Common Home’, will take place at St Patrick’s Cathedral on Saturday 28th November at 2pm, immediately following the march.
“In Oceania, our survival and existence are at stake,” said Monsignor John Ribat, President of the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania and the Archbishop of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Ribat was taking part in an emotionally charged press conference in Rome on Monday. Catholic leaders representing every continent on earth made an Read more
