tag:theconversation.com,2011:/africa/topics/pacific-islands-5483/articlesPacific Islands – The Conversation2024-03-12T19:15:29Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2250882024-03-12T19:15:29Z2024-03-12T19:15:29ZPacific Islanders have long drawn wisdom from the Earth, the sky and the waves. Research shows the science is behind them<p>One afternoon last year, we sat in a village hall in Fiji chatting to residents about traditional ways of forecasting tropical cyclones. One man mentioned a black-winged storm bird known as “manumanunicagi” that glides above the land only when a cyclone is forming out to sea. As the conversation continued, residents named at least 11 bird species, the odd behaviour of which signalled imminent changes in the weather. </p>
<p>As we were leaving later that evening, an elder took us aside. He was pleased we had taken their beliefs seriously and said many older Pacific people won’t talk about traditional knowledge for fear of ridicule.</p>
<p>This reflects the dominance of science-based understandings in adapting to climate change and its threats to ways of life. Our <a href="https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wcc.882">new research</a> suggests this attitude should change. </p>
<p>We reviewed evidence on traditional knowledge in the Pacific for coping with climate change, and found much of it was scientifically plausible. This indicates such knowledge should play a significant role in sustaining Pacific Island communities in future.</p>
<h2>A proven, robust system</h2>
<p>Our research was co-authored with 26 others, most Pacific Islanders with long-standing research interests in traditional knowledge.</p>
<p>People have inhabited the Pacific Islands for 3,000 years or <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Archaeology-of-Pacific-Oceania-Inhabiting-a-Sea-of-Islands/Carson/p/book/9781032486376">more</a> and have experienced many climate-driven challenges to their livelihoods and survival. They have coped not by luck but by design – through robust systems of traditional knowledge built by diverse groups of people over time.</p>
<p>The main short-term climate-related threats to island livelihoods in the Pacific are tropical cyclones which can damage food crops, pollute fresh water and destroy infrastructure. Prolonged droughts – common during El Niño events in the southwest Pacific – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03112-1">also cause</a> widespread damage.</p>
<p>Traditional knowledge in the Pacific explains the causes and manifestations of natural phenomena, and identifies the best ways to respond. It is commonly communicated orally between generations. </p>
<p>Here, we describe such knowledge relating to animals, plants, water and sky – and show how these beliefs make scientific sense.</p>
<p>It’s important to note, however, that traditional knowledge has its own intrinsic value. Scientific explanations are not required to validate it.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/secrets-in-the-canopy-scientists-discover-8-striking-new-bee-species-in-the-pacific-222599">Secrets in the canopy: scientists discover 8 striking new bee species in the Pacific</a>
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<h2>Reading the ocean and sky</h2>
<p>Residents of Fiji’s Druadrua Island interpret breaking waves to predict a cyclone as long as one month before it hits. In Vanuatu’s Torres Islands, 13 phrases exist to describe the state of the tide, including anomalies that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1834-4461.2004.tb02856.x">herald uncommon events</a>.</p>
<p>These observations make scientific sense. Distant storms can drive ocean swells onto coasts long before the winds and rain arrive, changing the usual patterns of waves.</p>
<p>In Samoa, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/25148486211047739">ten types of wind</a> are recognised in traditional lore. Winds that blow from the east (matā ‘upolu) indicate the imminent arrival of heavy rain, possibly a tropical cyclone. The south wind (tuā'oloa) is most feared. It will cease to blow, it is said, only when its appetite for death is <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-009-9722-z">sated</a>.</p>
<p>Many Pacific Island communities believe a cloudless, dark blue sky signals the arrival of a tropical cyclone. Other signs include unusually rapid cloud movements and the appearance of “short rainbows”. </p>
<p>These beliefs are supported by science. Rainbows are sometimes “shortened” or partly obscured by a distant rain shower. And Western science has <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-0-387-71543-8">long recognised</a> changes in clouds and winds can signal the development of cyclones.</p>
<p>In Vanuatu, a halo around a moon signals <a href="https://doi.org/10.1175/wcas-d-13-00053.1">imminent rainfall</a>. Again, this belief is scientifically sound. According to Western science, high thin cirrus clouds signal nearby storms. The clouds contain ice crystals through which moonlight is filtered, creating a halo effect.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-our-children-from-books-not-the-sea-how-climate-change-is-eroding-human-rights-in-vanuatu-192016">'Teaching our children from books, not the sea': how climate change is eroding human rights in Vanuatu</a>
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<h2>The wisdom of animals and plants</h2>
<p>As mentioned above, birds are are said to herald weather changes across the Pacific.</p>
<p>In Tonga, when the frigate bird flies across the land – unusual behaviour for an ocean species – it signals a tropical cyclone is developing. This traditional knowledge is captured in the logo of the <a href="https://met.gov.to">Tonga Meteorological Service</a>. Birds are similarly interpreted in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2015.1046156">Fiji</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/25148486211047739">northern Vanuatu</a>.</p>
<p>This belief stacks up scientifically. One <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.079">study</a> in North America, for example, showed golden-winged warblers dodged tornadoes by detecting shifts in infrasound. Another <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-41481-x">study</a>, which included data on frigate birds in the Pacific, found seabirds appeared to circumvent cyclones, probably by sensing wind strength and direction.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="plantain tree in field" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=799&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581159/original/file-20240312-18-84kk3r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">When the central shoot of the plantain is curled, people know a cyclone is developing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Patrick Nunn</span></span>
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<p>Traditional knowledge about insect behaviour in the Pacific Islands is also used to predict wet weather.</p>
<p>Bees, wasps and hornets usually build nests in tree branches. When nests are built close to the ground, Pacific Islanders know the forthcoming wet season will be wetter than normal, probably due to more tropical cyclones. This type of nest-building may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17477891.2015.1046156">prompt</a> residents to make appropriate preparations such as storing food.</p>
<p>Studies suggest insect behaviour can predict changes in weather. For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crvi.2009.10.007">a study</a> of wasp nesting in French Guiana found their ability to quickly move nests to more sheltered locations may help them survive wet years.</p>
<p>Across the Pacific, common signs of impending wet weather are found in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-020-01613-w">behaviours</a> of <a href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-08100-210207">some plants</a>. The central shoot of the plantain, for example, will be conspicuously curled instead of straight.</p>
<p>This can be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eru327">explained</a> scientifically by a process in which plant leaves close to protect their reproductive organs from extreme weather.</p>
<h2>Planning for a warmer future</h2>
<p>Since colonisation imposed Western worldviews around the world, traditional knowledge has been sidelined. This is true of the Pacific Islands, where in some places, traditional knowledge is all but <a href="https://theconversation.com/teaching-our-children-from-books-not-the-sea-how-climate-change-is-eroding-human-rights-in-vanuatu-192016">forgotten</a>. </p>
<p>But both Western and traditional knowledges have their pros and cons. Science-based knowledge, for example, is generic and often can’t realistically be applied <a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-islands-must-stop-relying-on-foreign-aid-to-adapt-to-climate-change-because-the-money-wont-last-132095">at local scales</a>. </p>
<p>As climate change impacts worsen, optimal planning for island peoples should combine both approaches. This will require open-mindedness and a respect for diverse sources of knowledge.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225088/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick D. Nunn receives funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) via the Australia Pacific Climate Partnership (APCP), the Australian Research Council, and the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roselyn Kumar receives funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) via the Australia Pacific Climate Partnership (APCP)</span></em></p>We reviewed evidence on traditional knowledge in the Pacific for coping with climate change, and found much of it was scientifically plausible.Patrick D. Nunn, Professor of Geography, School of Law and Society, University of the Sunshine CoastRoselyn Kumar, Adjunct Research Fellow in Geography and Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2225992024-02-26T05:03:51Z2024-02-26T05:03:51ZSecrets in the canopy: scientists discover 8 striking new bee species in the Pacific<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577494/original/file-20240222-16-pcdtt5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>After a decade searching for new species of bees in forests of the Pacific Islands, all we had to do was look up. </p>
<p>We soon found <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2024.1339446/full">eight new species</a> of masked bees in the forest canopy: six in Fiji, one in French Polynesia and another in Micronesia. Now we expect to find many more. </p>
<p>Forest-dwelling bees evolved for thousands of years alongside native plants, and play unique and important roles in nature. Studying these species can help us better understand bee evolution, diversity and conservation.</p>
<p>Almost <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-023-02626-w">21,000 bee species are known to science</a>. Many more remain undiscovered. But it’s a race against time, as the twin challenges of habitat loss and climate change threaten bee survival. We need to identify and protect bee species before they disappear forever.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A group of research students using stepping stones to cross a creek in the rainforest while carrying sampling nets on short poles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577774/original/file-20240225-24-qvx9ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Searching for bees in the rainforest on Vanua Levu, formerly known as Sandalwood Island, the second largest island of Fiji.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span>
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<h2>Introducing the new masked bees</h2>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/brv.12947">Pollinators abound in forests</a>. But scientific research has tended to focus on bees living closer to the ground.</p>
<p>We believe this sampling bias is replicated across much of the world. For example, another related Oceanic masked bee, <em>Pharohylaeus lactiferus</em> (a cloaked bee), was recently found in the canopy <a href="https://theconversation.com/phantom-of-the-forest-after-100-years-in-hiding-i-rediscovered-the-rare-cloaked-bee-in-australia-156026">after 100 years in hiding</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Closeup of one of the new masked bees showing the yellow markings on its face" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577776/original/file-20240225-30-ni8m63.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">This masked bee was collected from a canopy-flowering mistletoe near Mount Nadarivatu on Viti Levu, Fiji.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span>
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<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4674.1.1">first decade of bee sampling</a> in Fiji turned up only one bee from the genus <em>Hylaeus</em>. This bee probably belonged in the canopy so we were very lucky to catch it near the ground. Targeted attempts over the next few years, using our standard short insect nets, failed to find any more. </p>
<p>But this changed when we turned our attention to searching the forest canopy. </p>
<p>Sampling in the canopy is physically challenging. Strength and skill are required to sweep a long, heavy net and pole through the treetops. It’s quite a workout. We limit our efforts to the edges of forests, where branches won’t tangle the whole contraption.</p>
<p>By lifting our gaze in this way, we discovered eight new bee species, all in the genus <em>Hylaeus</em>. They are mostly black with stunning yellow or white highlights, especially on their faces – hence the name, masked bees. </p>
<p>They appear to rely exclusively on the forest canopy. This behaviour is striking and has rarely been identified in bees before (perhaps because few scientists have been looking for bees up there). </p>
<p>Because the new species live in forests and native tree tops, they’re likely to be vulnerable to land clearing, cyclones and climate change. </p>
<p>More work is needed to uncover the secrets hidden in these dense tropical treetops. It may require engineering solutions such as canopy cranes and drones, as well as skilful tree-climbing using ropes, pulleys and harnesses.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/move-over-honeybees-aussie-native-bees-steal-the-show-with-unique-social-and-foraging-behaviours-200536">Move over, honeybees: Aussie native bees steal the show with unique social and foraging behaviours</a>
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<h2>Michener’s missing links</h2>
<p>The journey of bees across the Pacific region is a tale of great dispersals and isolation.</p>
<p>Almost 60 years ago, world-renowned bee expert <a href="https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/787658">Charles Michener described</a> what was probably the most isolated masked bee around, <em>Hylaeus tuamotuensis</em>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Searching for bees on Fiji’s highest peak, Mount Tomanivi, here two researchers are picking a path through dense undergrowth while carrying nets on short poles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577779/original/file-20240225-16-iay0de.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Fiji’s highest peak, Mount Tomanivi, is home to unique bee species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Dorey Photography</span></span>
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<p>The specimen was found in French Polynesia. At the time, Michener said that was “entirely unexpected”, because the nearest relatives were, as the bee flies, 4,000km north in Hawaii, 5,000km southwest in New Zealand, and 6,000km west in Australia. </p>
<p>So how did it get there and where did it come from?</p>
<p>Our research helps to answer these questions. We found eight new <em>Hylaeus</em> species including one from French Polynesia. Using genetic analysis and other methods, we found strong links between these species and <em>H. tuamotuensis</em>. </p>
<p>So Michener’s bee was probably an ancient immigrant from Fiji, 3,000km away. A journey of that magnitude is no mean feat for bees smaller than a grain of rice.</p>
<p>Of course, there are <a href="https://geoscienceletters.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40562-016-0041-8">more than 1,700 islands in the Pacific</a>, which can serve as stepping stones for bees on their long journeys. </p>
<p>We don’t yet know how many new <em>Hylaeus</em> species might exist in the South Pacific, or the routes they took to get to their island homes. But we suspect there are many more to be found.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/phantom-of-the-forest-after-100-years-in-hiding-i-rediscovered-the-rare-cloaked-bee-in-australia-156026">Phantom of the forest: after 100 years in hiding, I rediscovered the rare cloaked bee in Australia</a>
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<h2>Our Pacific emissaries</h2>
<p>The early origins of Fijian bees – both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03721426.2020.1740957">ground-dwelling <em>Homalictus</em></a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2012.10.018">forest-loving <em>Hylaeus</em></a> – can be traced to the ancient past when Australia and New Guinea were part of one land mass, known as Sahul. The ancestors of both groups then undertook epic oceanic journeys to travel from Sahul to the furthest reaches of the Pacific, where they diversified. But the <em>Hylaeus</em> travelled furthest, by thousands of kilometres.</p>
<p>These little emissaries have similarly brought together researchers across the region. We resolved difficulties sampling and gathering knowledge by working with people across the Pacific, including Fiji, French Polynesia, and Hawaii. It shows what can be accomplished with international collaboration. </p>
<p>Together we are making great strides towards understanding our shared bee biodiversity. Such collaborations are our best chance of discovering and conserving species while we can.</p>
<p><em>We would like to thank Ben Parslow and Karl Magnacca for their contribution to this article. We would further like to thank our collaborators and their home institutions, the Hawiian Department of Land and Natural Resources, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, University of the South Pacific, the South Australian Museum and Adelaide University.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222599/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James B. Dorey has received funding for this work from The Playford Trust as a PhD and Honours scholarship recipient, Flinders University through the AJ and IM Naylon PhD Scholarship, and the Australian Government through the New Colombo Plan . He is affiliated with both Flinders University and the University of Wollongong.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amy-Marie Gilpin is affiliated with the School of Science and Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, Western Sydney University. Funding to publish this work was in part provided by Western Sydney University. Amy-Marie is also a member of the IUCN Wild Bee Specialist Group Oceania. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Olivia Davies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>By lifting their gaze to the treetops rather than poking around on the ground, researchers discovered eight new species of masked bees.James B. Dorey, Lecturer in Biological Sciences, University of WollongongAmy-Marie Gilpin, Lecturer in Invertebrate Ecology, Western Sydney UniversityOlivia Davies, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2221052024-02-09T16:50:28Z2024-02-09T16:50:28ZChina’s increasing political influence in the south Pacific has sparked an international response<p>Taiwan elected <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/13/taiwan-ruling-partys-lai-ching-te-wins-presidential-election">Lai Ching-te</a>, also known as William Lai, to be its next president on January 13. His election marks the continuation of a government that promotes an independent Taiwan. </p>
<p>Just two days later, the Pacific nation of Nauru <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/nauru-severs-ties-with-taiwan-switches-diplomatic-allegiance-to-china-20240115-p5exh1.html">severed ties</a> with Taiwan and transferred its diplomatic allegiance to Beijing. </p>
<p>More recently, on January 27, Tuvalu’s pro-Taiwan prime minister, Kausea Natano, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/27/tuvalus-pro-taiwan-prime-minister-kausea-natano-loses-seat-in-partial-election-results?ref=upstract.com">lost his seat</a> in the nation’s general election. Natano’s finance minister, Seve Paeniu, who is aiming for the prime ministership himself, was returned to his seat. In his campaign, Paeniu pledged to <a href="https://devpolicy.org/2024-tuvalu-general-election-a-changing-political-landscape-20240130/#:%7E:text=In%20Tuvalu%20elections%2C%20candidates%20run,both%20incumbents%20won%20re%2Delection.">review</a> Tuvalu’s relationships with China and Taiwan.</p>
<p>These examples indicate China’s growing influence in the south Pacific, a region that the world’s major powers are competing for influence over. But why is the region significant? And how are these major powers exerting their influence there?</p>
<h2>Preventing recognition of Taiwan</h2>
<p>Taiwan has been governed independently since 1949. But Beijing believes it should be reunited with the rest of China. It is not an option for states to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/04/not-about-the-highest-bidder-the-countries-defying-china-to-stick-with-taiwan">diplomatically recognise</a> both China and Taiwan – China forces them to choose. </p>
<p>For decades, the Chinese government has used a combination of carrots and sticks to pressure such states into transferring diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. </p>
<p>China has, for example, imposed significant political, diplomatic and economic sanctions on countries that continue to formally recognise Taiwan. In 2022, China curbed imports from Lithuania to <a href="https://ecfr.eu/publication/tough-trade-the-hidden-costs-of-economic-coercion/">punish the country</a> for allowing Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in the country.</p>
<p>But China also offers states – and their governing elites – economic and political incentives for <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11366-020-09682-8">withdrawing diplomatic recognition</a> of Taiwan. It has, in the past, used its influence in the UN and other international organisations to block assistance or elect specific people to international positions.</p>
<p>Nauru’s change of diplomatic position, and the political debate unfolding in Tuvulu, should be understood as part of China’s longstanding effort to prevent and reduce recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign state. </p>
<p>But they are a significant step forward for China. Nauru has a leading position in the Pacific Islands Forum – the main political decision-making body for the region – so the country’s change of stance could lead to wider formal diplomatic changes in the south Pacific. </p>
<p>China, of course, has legitimate economic and political interests in the south Pacific too. It is a vital export market for natural resources from Pacific island states and is a key source of incoming tourism. According to <a href="https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjdt_665385/2649_665393/202205/t20220524_10691917.html">Chinese statistics</a>, total trade volume between China and Pacific island states grew from US$153 million (£121 million) to US$5.3 billion (£4.2 billion) between 1992 and 2021.</p>
<h2>Competing for influence</h2>
<p>Nauru’s decision is another diplomatic setback for Taiwan, which is now formally recognised by just 11 countries. However, this is not in itself a serious concern for the US, Australia and their allies. </p>
<p>They all formally recognise China, while at the same time maintaining close, informal links with Taiwan. Their focus is on trying to limit the depth of Chinese political and economic influence over Pacific island states and elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region. The US is concerned that growing Chinese political influence may ultimately result in it enjoying significant military presence in the region.</p>
<p>The Pacific region encompasses the US state of Hawaii, multiple US territories, and is also home to several crucial US military bases. So, the US has made an effort to <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11208">enhance its diplomatic relations</a> in the region by providing financial support for initiatives around climate change adaption, sustainable fishing and economic growth. </p>
<p>However, increased tension between China and the west over the past decade has made it increasingly challenging to reign in Chinese influence. China has been asserting its primacy in and around Taiwan in the South China Sea, and has increasingly <a href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/chinas-military-aggression-in-the-indo-pacific-region/">exerted military pressure</a>. </p>
<p>China’s struggle for influence in the region now also includes taking opportunities to challenge previously undisputed western security dominance in the south Pacific. In 2022, China put forward a proposal for a diplomatic, economic and security agreement with the region. The agreement was, however, later <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11208">abandoned</a> due to resistance from some Pacific island nations at the urging of the US and Australia.</p>
<h2>US strategy in the south Pacific</h2>
<p>When president, Donald Trump launched a number of deals with Pacific islands including Nauru, Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Palau and Micronesia. However, Trump’s <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-trump-administration-and-the-free-and-open-indo-pacific/#:%7E:text=The%20administration%20has%20rolled%20out,programs%2C%20which%20support%20these%20goals">strategy</a> for a “free and open Indo-Pacific” had limited success. This was not only due to his confrontational posture towards China, but also to his threatening and protectionist “America first” rhetoric. </p>
<p>Joe Biden’s comparatively measured diplomacy has seen more success. In 2022, the Biden administration <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Pacific-Partnership-Strategy.pdf">announced</a> its “Pacific partnership strategy”.</p>
<p>The initiative included a commitment of US$810 million in development aid across the Pacific island region. And in May 2023, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/25/fact-sheet-enhancing-the-u-s-pacific-islands-partnership/#:%7E:text=Last%20year%2C%20the%20Biden%2DHarris,%24810%20million%20in%20new%20assistance">stated</a> that he would work with Congress to provide over US$7.2 billion to support the region. </p>
<p>Since then, the US has <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/25/statement-by-president-biden-on-the-recognition-of-the-cook-islands-and-the-establishment-of-diplomatic-relations/">recognised</a> the Cook Islands and Niue as independent, sovereign nations, increased its diplomatic footprint in the region and has committed strongly to work with the Pacific Islands Forum to promote a “democratic, resilient and prosperous Pacific islands region”.</p>
<p>The shift of diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China does not mean that Pacific island nations want to reduce their ties with the west. But the US, Australia and their allies will need to invest a lot more in diplomatic, economic and security assistance if they want to counter China’s growing influence there.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222105/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>China is asserting itself in the South Pacific, prompting efforts from the US and its allies to contain its influence.Owen Greene, Professor of International Security and Development, University of BradfordChristoph Bluth, Professor of International Relations and Security, University of BradfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2212122024-01-28T17:19:37Z2024-01-28T17:19:37ZMore than religion: why some of Israel’s staunchest support comes from the Pacific Islands<p>One of the most perplexing yet poorly understood aspects of the international diplomatic response to the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/israel-war-on-gaza/">ongoing Gaza conflict</a> has been the overwhelmingly pro-Israel orientation of Pacific Island states. </p>
<p>During the voting on two United Nations resolutions (<a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/%20wp-content/uploads/2023/11/N2332702.pdf">October 27th</a> and <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/document/protection-of-civilians-and-upholding-legal-and-humanitarian-obligations-ga-10th-emergency-special-session-draft-resolution/">December 12th</a>) calling on Israel to reduce the death and suffering of Palestinian civilians, many Pacific countries voted either <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2023/12/pacific-island-states-continue-disproportionate-support-of-israel-at-the-un/">against the resolution or abstained</a>. </p>
<p>Why would these small island countries, on the other side of the world and with no direct links to Israel, choose to either oppose or not support this essential humanitarian gesture?</p>
<p>Explanations of this anomaly have rightly placed emphasis upon the <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2023/11/how-asia-pacific-states-voted-on-the-uns-israel-palestine-resolution/">intensely Christian character of Pacific societies</a>. </p>
<p>Adherence rates in most Pacific countries sit above 90%. Across the region, Israel and Judaism are exalted as the sacred foundations of their faith. Governments drawn from these societies duplicate these views, which are then borne out in international forums such as the UN. </p>
<p>Such an analysis is not wrong, but it might be obscuring other factors that contribute to staunch support for Israel. If the breadth and strength of Christian faith was the basis for supporting Israel, why then did other fervently Christian nations such as <a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Brazil-President.pdf">Brazil</a> or <a href="https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/640795-gaza-nigerias-senate-calls-for-ceasefire-in-israel-palestine-war.html">Nigeria</a> support the resolutions? </p>
<h2>The role of kinship in the Pacific Islands</h2>
<p>There is one hugely important characteristic of the region’s culture that has been overlooked: <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/kinship">kinship</a>. </p>
<p>Kinship is fundamentally about a sense of togetherness. It may be created either biologically, through processes like parenthood, inheritance and so forth, or culturally, through marriage or adoption. Ultimately what it refers to is how and why people are related to each other.</p>
<p>The centrality of family, relatedness, blood and descent for Pacific society cannot be overstated. Kinship is the machinery of the region’s societies, the gears, levers and pulleys by which all communities function.</p>
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<p>Of crucial importance in this respect is that kinship and family dictate and regulate access to all manner of material benefits, from marriage through to the benefits of <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/jso/7117?lang=en">economic development projects</a>. If you can convincingly argue that your ancestors dwelt in or were even physically a part of a given territory, then you establish access to the relevant benefits. </p>
<p>Kinship is not simply a matter of who is related to who and who came from where. It is something thoroughly pragmatic and instrumental, a social charter for who gets what. As such, it follows that these structures warp and bend to fit novel scenarios.</p>
<h2>Linking kinship and geopolitics</h2>
<p>How can this Pacific cultural strategy help us understand the region’s geopolitical leanings? </p>
<p>First, we need to return to the basics of the Christian faith. It is not an overstatement to say that the ultimate goal of all Christians is to enter heaven.</p>
<p>A second crucial point is that the Bible explicitly mentions in several places that the Jews are God’s chosen people, and that they enjoy this privileged status by virtue of their genealogical descent from the ancient Israelites. </p>
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<p>Such an arrangement makes perfect sense for Pacific peoples, whose entire ways of life are built on gaining benefits through family and kinship. </p>
<p>It should come as little surprise, then, that a common strategy adopted across the region in order to close the distance between themselves and the chosen people of God has been to accommodate them within local kinship networks. It is an ancient technique now applied on a fully global scale. </p>
<p>Just as various Pacific communities produce ancestral narratives that describe claims to different types of wealth, so too have they created family stories that position them squarely within the sphere of Christian sacredness. </p>
<h2>Belief and diplomacy</h2>
<p>In a variety of ways, people have woven Jewish people, their sacred geography, and the state of Israel, into their own kinship networks. </p>
<p>This may occur directly, as communities assert membership of the ten lost tribes of Israel. Various passages in the Bible describe the expulsion and resettlement of ancient groups by the then dominant Assyrian kingdom. </p>
<p>Jewish and Christian theologians later deduced that these exiled groups were still out in the world somewhere and had given rise to a range of populations. This theory became popular across the Euro-American Christian world in the 20th century. </p>
<p>It appears that this idea eventually found its way into the Pacific, especially Melanesia, where local people now advance the claim they have descended from these dispersed tribes, a strategy designed to ensure their salvation.</p>
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<p>The kinship connection may also occur indirectly, through <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ocea.5102">expressions of spiritual affinities with Jewish people</a>. In any case, it is in a truly Pacific manner that kinship networks have opened and then closed around those things they wish to extract value from.</p>
<p>Since the politicians of the Pacific are drawn from populations that created familial intimacy with Israel and the Jewish people, it is inevitable these biases unfold in their diplomatic decision making. </p>
<p>It is worth noting, too, that recent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/25/biden-pacific-islands-aid-china#:%7E:text=During%20the%202022%20summit%20the,climate%20crisis%20and%20maritime%20security.">promises of substantial aid money</a> from the United States – Israel’s strongest ally – have likely strengthened this attitude. </p>
<p>But it is not clear whether this stance is permanent. We will have to wait and see whether religion continues to trump ethical considerations, as wider <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/02/politics/biden-administration-warning-israel-gaza-civilians/index.html">international support for Israel slowly erodes</a> in the face of the disaster taking place.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fraser Macdonald does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pacific Island support for Israel in the United Nations goes beyond a shared Judeo-Christian belief system. It involves a fundamental emphasis on community based on connection and relationships.Fraser Macdonald, Senior Lecturer in Anthropology, University of WaikatoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2192002024-01-24T20:33:54Z2024-01-24T20:33:54ZThe Australia-Tuvalu deal shows why we need a global framework for climate relocations<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/the-australia-tuvalu-deal-shows-why-we-need-a-global-framework-for-climate-relocations" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The recent climate migration deal signed by Australia and Tuvalu in November 2023 has been touted as providing a “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/tuvalu-climate-change-migration-1.7024777">lifeline</a>” to the people of the South Pacific nation who face existential threats from rising sea levels and climate change.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/tuvalu/australia-tuvalu-falepili-union-treaty">Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union treaty</a> is the world’s first bilateral agreement on climate mobility. Under the treaty, Australia will grant permanent residence to up to 280 Tuvaluans facing dangers posed by climate change each year. </p>
<p>In exchange, Tuvalu will not enter into any security or defence agreements with other countries without Australian approval. In addition, Australia will defend Tuvalu from foreign threats and provide assistance following disasters.</p>
<p>Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the deal groundbreaking and a “<a href="https://twitter.com/AlboMP/status/1722846875655794728">comprehensive partnership</a>” that respected sovereignty. </p>
<p>However, others have criticized it as <a href="https://indepthnews.net/concerns-in-the-pacific-over-neo-colonial-australia-tuvalu-agreement/">neo-colonial</a>, especially for the control it grants Australia over Tuvalu’s security, maritime zones and resources. </p>
<h2>Groundbreaking or neo-colonial?</h2>
<p>There have long been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/nov/10/tuvalu-residency-and-security-treaty-what-is-it-and-why-is-australia-doing-it">heated debates</a> about the idea of such an arrangement, and some see the treaty as an <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-offer-of-climate-migration-to-tuvalu-residents-is-groundbreaking-and-could-be-a-lifeline-across-the-pacific-217514">important step</a>. </p>
<p>As the consequences of climate change become more severe, the international community needs to protect populations who face becoming stateless as their countries literally sink into the ocean. </p>
<p>However, some see this deal as yet another example of western countries exerting colonial influence over others. Former Tuvalu Prime Minister, Enele Sopoaga, turned down a 2019 proposal to offer Australian citizenship to climate refugees from island states in the South Pacific in exchange for granting Australia control of their exclusive economic zones and territorial seas. He called the proposal neo-colonial and an example of “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-18/tuvalu-pm-slams-kevin-rudd-suggestion-as-neo-colonialism/10820176">imperial thinking</a>.” </p>
<p>Sopoaga has reiterated those concerns regarding the Falepili Union and accused the current Prime Minister of <a href="https://www.pacificislandtimes.com/post/where-would-tuvalu-stop-auctioning-its-sovereignty-for-money">auctioning Tuvalu’s sovereignty for money</a>.</p>
<p>There were also concerns about the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/503354/australia-tuvalu-falepili-union-shameful-former-tuvalu-pm">lack of consultation</a> with Tuvaluans, the use of this treaty to <a href="https://devpolicy.org/the-australia-tuvalu-falepili-union-tuvaluan-values-or-australian-interests-20231115/">counter China’s growing influence</a> in the Pacific and how it is a <a href="https://toda.org/global-outlook/2023/this-is-not-climate-justice-the-australia-tuvalu-falepili-union.html">poor example of climate justice</a>.</p>
<h2>Relocation is understudied</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crsust.2022.100177">Not enough focus</a> has been given to relocation and the topic has been <a href="https://researchinginternaldisplacement.org/short_pieces/planned-relocations-what-we-know-dont-know-and-need-to-learn/">understudied</a>. </p>
<p>The existential dangers posed by climate change are all too real for small island nations like Tuvalu. Many face a real risk of becoming uninhabitable due to climate change. For example, Tuvalu and Vanuatu could be <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-10/sinking-islands-turn-to-court-as-they-fight-for-climate-survival?leadSource=uverify%20wall">completely submerged</a> by the end of this century. </p>
<p>Research shows that more than <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pDR-t1hVApqJiVk6E5DJ7TN0cOtXJiKvS1w8QIP149o/edit#gid=1611800107">400 climate and weather related relocations</a> have taken place globally since 1970 and <a href="https://researchinginternaldisplacement.org/short_pieces/planned-relocations-what-we-know-dont-know-and-need-to-learn/">more will happen in the future</a>. Fiji has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/08/how-to-move-a-country-fiji-radical-plan-escape-rising-seas-climate-crisis">one of the most thorough plans ever devised to tackle planned relocation</a> and identifies the many logistical, financial, social and cultural challenges involved.</p>
<p>Among the complex plans are deeply personal and moral decisions, like what to do with burial sites. These nations are often faced with two traumatic options: let them sink or exhume the remains.</p>
<p>Fiji’s relocation, as well as most others, will be internal. However, the question of international relocation is even more challenging with much higher-level geopolitical challenges and social and economic consequences. </p>
<h2>Sovereignty and disappearing land</h2>
<p>One of the hardest questions is that of sovereignty. Will there be a time when most Tuvaluans live outside Tuvalu? How would those in the diaspora be able to exercise their national rights, if they have them? How can they maintain their distinct nationhood without land? These questions are important, but also hard to answer.</p>
<p>Is a country that no longer has land still sovereign? <a href="https://www.ilsa.org/Jessup/Jessup15/Montevideo%20Convention.pdf">International law defines a sovereign state</a> as having 1) a permanent population, 2) a defined territory, 3) a government, and 4) the capacity to enter relations with other states. </p>
<p>Aware of this, Tuvalu has already amended its constitution to assert that its <a href="https://devpolicy.org/the-australia-tuvalu-falepili-union-tuvaluan-values-or-australian-interests-20231115/">statehood is permanent</a>, so its sovereignty persists despite losing its land to sea-level rise.</p>
<p>They are also developing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/27/tuvalu-climate-crisis-rising-sea-levels-pacific-island-nation-country-digital-clone">a digital nation</a> by recreating its land in the metaverse, archiving its culture and digitalizing its government. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570998/original/file-20240123-19-ukq6i8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A hilly tropical island surrounded by the ocean" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570998/original/file-20240123-19-ukq6i8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/570998/original/file-20240123-19-ukq6i8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570998/original/file-20240123-19-ukq6i8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570998/original/file-20240123-19-ukq6i8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570998/original/file-20240123-19-ukq6i8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570998/original/file-20240123-19-ukq6i8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/570998/original/file-20240123-19-ukq6i8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Island nations like Fiji have developed plans to relocate people due to the impacts of climate change and rising sea levels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Maritime boundaries</h2>
<p>Maritime boundaries are divisions of Earth’s water surface areas in the context of territorial waters, contiguous zones and exclusive economic zones. The maritime boundaries of small island nations are vast. For example, Tuvalu’s <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-13/what-happens-to-maritime-boundaries-after-sea-level-rise/10804478">ocean territories cover more than 900,000 square kilometres</a>, which is about the size of Nigeria. </p>
<p>Rising oceans could shrink the maritime zones as an island sinks. There are <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2022/09/12/-is-climate-change-disrupting-maritime-boundaries-.html">serious implications</a> of this as maritime boundaries determine who has the right to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-13/what-happens-to-maritime-boundaries-after-sea-level-rise/10804478">Pacific fisheries worth billions of dollars</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21550085.2014.926086">Sovereignty and maritime boundaries</a> can be the main challenges that a global governance framework for international relocation can help to address first as those have implications on how planned relocation can unfold. In terms of how the planned relocation itself can take place, there are several ideas:</p>
<p>1) Special visas and treaties that facilitate climate mobility such as the Falepili Union.</p>
<p>2) Leasing territories has been a common solution that small island states have explored, like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/01/kiribati-climate-change-fiji-vanua-levu">Kiribati’s purchase of land in Fiji</a>.</p>
<p>3) Merging of several states, like how <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/6ae3f9d7-4d5f-55ce-bfee-1b124561e486/content">Zanzibar and Tanganyika unified in 1964 to form Tanzania</a>, so people on islands that will be submerged can move to other areas of country.</p>
<p>4) <a href="http://www.qil-qdi.org/sinking-states-the-statehood-dilemma-in-the-face-of-sea-level-rise/">Artificial and floating islands</a> to replace submerged land territory have been contemplated, but the legal status of such islands is highly uncertain and could set dangerous precedents, such as new islands being used to claim territories within the maritime boundaries of others. </p>
<p>All these potential ways to allow for planned relocation come with significant challenges, which is why a global governance framework is required.</p>
<p>Planned relocation and, specifically, international relocation, is one of the biggest challenges of our time as the sovereignty, maritime boundaries and rights of affected nations are all at risk, let alone the lives and futures of millions around the world. Most importantly, significant action to combat the climate crisis is required from all nations so the need for mass plan relocation can be mitigated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219200/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yvonne Su does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The climate migration deal has been dubbed as offering Tuvaluans a lifeline, but others say it is a neocolonial arrangement that does not tackle rising ocean levels.Yvonne Su, Assistant Professor in the Department of Equity Studies, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2195062024-01-08T19:16:36Z2024-01-08T19:16:36Z‘We don’t know what tomorrow will bring’: how climate change is affecting Fijians’ mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568135/original/file-20240107-23-1x8kwc.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3542%2C2565&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amy Lykins</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s unlikely any region of the world will escape the <a href="https://australian.museum/learn/climate-change/climate-change-impacts/">effects of climate change</a>. These include increasing temperatures, more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as bushfires and floods, rising sea levels, and more. </p>
<p>But some areas, like the Pacific Islands, are likely to experience <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJCCSM-01-2017-0012/full/html">disproportionate effects</a> from advancing climate change. Pacific island nations are uniquely vulnerable to sea level rise, coastal erosion and cyclones of escalating intensity. </p>
<p>Increasing temperatures and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns present additional risks to populations largely reliant on traditional fishing and farming practices for both food sources and trade. </p>
<p>The consequences of climate change also pose significant risks to the mental health and wellbeing of the people living in these countries, as we observed in a <a href="https://gep.psychopen.eu/index.php/gep/article/view/11447/11447.html">recent study</a> with rural Fijians.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-the-law-of-the-sea-be-used-to-protect-small-island-states-from-climate-change-208842">Could the law of the sea be used to protect small island states from climate change?</a>
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<h2>Shifts in the environment</h2>
<p>We interviewed more than 70 Indigenous and other traditional Fijians living in rural villages in coastal, coastal hinterland and river delta regions of the country. </p>
<p>Interviewees from each village described environmental changes they had observed, ranging from shifts in seasons and rainfall, to warmer temperatures, to sea level rise resulting in more frequent flooding of the villages, particularly during “king tides”. As one participant said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Now it is like we are having the hot season throughout. Now we are experiencing the abnormal changes in the weather like never before.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another commented:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Sea level is not where it used to be since it is moving into the village, especially when it is high tides. We are really worried and concerned.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A number of items washed up on a beach in Fiji." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566813/original/file-20231220-23-llkkny.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566813/original/file-20231220-23-llkkny.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566813/original/file-20231220-23-llkkny.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566813/original/file-20231220-23-llkkny.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566813/original/file-20231220-23-llkkny.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566813/original/file-20231220-23-llkkny.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566813/original/file-20231220-23-llkkny.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">King tides sometimes see items washed away from coastal villages in Fiji.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amy Lykins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A strong theme of loss of traditional culture ran through our interviews, with many participants describing the ways these environmental changes were contributing to the loss of traditional ways of life and their broader cultural practices. </p>
<p>One participant talked about yatule, a fish customarily found in seas of the Nadroga-Navosa province, traditionally fished using only nets:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>No longer is it [yatule] seen [here]. Fishing for the yatule here […] is done traditionally […] the traditional method is slowly fading.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>These observed losses were having an effect on mental wellbeing. In particular, participants routinely expressed concerns and grief about what would be left for future generations.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Due to the climate change we are very concerned about our future generation. At least now we can still eat fish, we don’t know what tomorrow will bring.</p>
</blockquote>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/their-fate-isnt-sealed-pacific-nations-can-survive-climate-change-if-locals-take-the-lead-136709">Their fate isn’t sealed: Pacific nations can survive climate change – if locals take the lead</a>
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<hr>
<h2>The idea of relocation fuelled further distress</h2>
<p>All interviewees were aware of a potential need in the future to migrate (indeed, a couple of the villages we visited are already in the process of relocating to higher grounds). But this prospect was met with both reluctance and substantial anticipated loss. As one participant said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[The villagers] will not follow suit since they have strong ties with this place. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is our only land where we have lived in all our lives.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Given the strong connections Pacific island peoples traditionally have to their ancestral lands, there is no question any forced relocation would have significant negative effects on their mental health and wellbeing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A Fijian island surrounded by blue ocean and blue sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566814/original/file-20231220-25-ke2jj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566814/original/file-20231220-25-ke2jj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566814/original/file-20231220-25-ke2jj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566814/original/file-20231220-25-ke2jj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566814/original/file-20231220-25-ke2jj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566814/original/file-20231220-25-ke2jj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566814/original/file-20231220-25-ke2jj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The images tourists might have in their heads when they think of Fiji are very different to the reality for residents.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amy Lykins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Eco-grief</h2>
<p>Our interviews highlight the substantial distress associated with the rapidly changing environment of Fiji. </p>
<p>In many ways, these themes mirror those observed in the Indigenous Inuit peoples of the Circumpolar North, found in Alaska, northern Canada and Greenland. In these locations, rapidly declining sea ice is having a major impact on traditional cultural practices (such as fishing and travel), also resulting in grief, worry and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0092-2">mental ill-health</a>. </p>
<p>Across the globe, it’s clear people and cultures with strong place-based attachments are especially vulnerable to the mental health effects of climate change, sometimes called “eco-grief”.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-eco-anxiety-climate-change-affects-our-mental-health-too-123002">The rise of 'eco-anxiety': climate change affects our mental health, too</a>
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<p>More research is urgently needed to better understand mental ill-health in Pacific peoples related to the effects of climate change, and to develop <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17565529.2022.2145171">culturally informed supports</a>. There’s also a need to strengthen mental health systems in <a href="https://ijmhs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13033-019-0301-z">Pacific island nations</a>. </p>
<p>Finally, concerted climate change mitigation efforts are crucial to protect these unique Pacific cultures, which will aid in protecting their mental health and wellbeing. </p>
<p><em>The authors would like to thank Patrick Nunn, Roselyn Kumar, Cassandra Sundaraja, Mereoni Camailekeba, Samisoni (“Samson”) Baivucago and Sala Tabaka for their contribution to the research that informed this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219506/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pacific Island nations face disproportionate threats from climate change. Rural Fijians are seeing the effects now and are worried for the future.Amy Lykins, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, University of New EnglandSuzanne Cosh, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2193992023-12-07T11:32:49Z2023-12-07T11:32:49ZHelping the Pacific financially is a great start – but Australia must act on the root cause of the climate crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564147/original/file-20231207-27-ums72m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C49%2C3216%2C2144&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fiji was flooded by a severe cyclone in 2016.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/indigenous-fijian-girl-walking-on-flooded-561184597">ChameleonsEye/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government has announced an extra <a href="https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/bowen/media-releases/joint-media-release-supporting-pacific-family-cop28-respond-climate-change">A$150 million for climate finance</a> – including $100 million for the Pacific to help protect its people, housing and infrastructure from the escalating impacts of global warming. </p>
<p>It comes as Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen lands in Dubai for international negotiations at the <a href="https://www.cop28.com/en/">28th United Nations climate summit</a>. At the end of the hottest year on record, these talks focus on accelerating climate action in line with the Paris Agreement. </p>
<p>While new funding is undoubtedly important and can go a long way to supporting community-led resilience-building efforts in the region, Australia will be under growing pressure to do more.</p>
<p>A growing number of countries, including the European Union and Pacific island nations, want to see global agreement at COP28 for a managed phase-out of fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Many observers are sceptical that COP28 can deliver consensus on shifting away from coal, oil and gas, because host nation the United Arab Emirates is a major oil exporter. This is a problem Australia also faces – having volunteered to host UN climate talks in 2026, in partnership with Pacific island countries. Today, Australia exports almost <a href="https://productiongap.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/PGR2023_web_rev.pdf">three times as much fossil fuels</a> as the UAE. Dozens of new coal and gas projects are lining up for approval. </p>
<p>Today’s announcement must not be a substitute for addressing the root causes of the climate crisis. Australia must stop approving new coal, oil and gas projects. And we must back agreement at COP28 for the phase-out of fossil fuels.</p>
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<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-decades-putting-the-brakes-on-global-action-does-australia-deserve-to-host-un-climate-talks-with-pacific-nations-194055">After decades putting the brakes on global action, does Australia deserve to host UN climate talks with Pacific nations?</a>
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<h2>What’s in today’s announcement?</h2>
<p>Australia will kickstart the Pacific’s first resilience financing facility with $100 million, and rejoin the Green Climate Fund with a $50 million contribution. As the government says in today’s joint statement: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Climate change is the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of climate vulnerable countries and regions, including the peoples of the Pacific.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sea-level rise, stronger cyclones, marine heatwaves and increasingly acidic oceans pose existential threats to many Pacific islands. Low-lying atoll nations such as Kiribati and Tuvalu are especially vulnerable. </p>
<p>Australia certainly has a responsibility to help Pacific communities adapt. Supporting the Pacific-led, owned and managed Pacific Resilience Facility is an important step. </p>
<p>The facility was proposed by island leaders as a regional fund that would help island communities build resilience to climate impacts, and would be driven by Pacific priorities. </p>
<p>It was established partly in response to concerns that other large multilateral funds are difficult for Pacific island countries to access, and are not geared to support community-scale projects. These locally driven solutions and community projects deserve our support. </p>
<p>The Australian government says it will support locally led, small-scale projects: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>This includes grants for climate adaptation, disaster preparedness, nature-based solutions and projects which respond to loss and damage.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Note the words “loss and damage” – the sole mention of those words in today’s announcement. Bowen has so far been <a href="https://minister.dcceew.gov.au/bowen/transcripts/interview-sabra-lane-abc-am-4">hesitant to make any commitment</a> to the new global Loss and Damage Fund, to be administered by the World Bank. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-chris-bowens-struggle-to-promote-consensus-on-climate-action-at-cop28-219008">Politics with Michelle Grattan: Chris Bowen's struggle to promote consensus on climate action at COP28</a>
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<h2>Rejoining the Green Climate Fund</h2>
<p>The world’s largest global climate fund, the Green Climate Fund, was set up in 2015 as part of the Paris Agreement. It has approved projects across 128 countries.</p>
<p>Australian diplomat Howard Bamsey was <a href="https://www.greenclimate.fund/news/gcf-board-selects-howard-bamsey-as-executive-director-of-the-secretari-1">previously Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund</a> and Australia was able to direct the multilateral fund to support initiatives in our region. </p>
<p>But the Morrison government withdrew Australia from the fund in 2018. We should never have left. It was a rash decision, <a href="https://archive.is/0GIN8">announced by the then Prime Minister Scott Morrison live on air</a> while talking to radio host Alan Jones.</p>
<p>Rejoining the Green Climate Fund makes good sense for Australian diplomacy and relations with countries in our region. By rejoining the fund, Australia can effectively advocate for funding to meet Pacific needs.</p>
<h2>Australia should contribute to the new Loss and Damage Fund</h2>
<p>Providing finance to help Pacific communities deal with growing climate impacts is a positive step, but Australia also needs to contribute to the newly established fund to address loss and damage that is now unavoidable.</p>
<p>The establishment of the global Loss and Damage Fund at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop28-climate-summit-just-approved-a-loss-and-damage-fund-what%20-does-this-mean-218999">beginning of COP28 last week</a> was a major breakthrough, and a real win for Pacific island countries. </p>
<p>Vanuatu first proposed a global fund in the early 1990s. The idea was polluters would pay for the damage they were causing. </p>
<p>This is different to climate finance for adaptation. It is meant to deal with things you really can’t adapt to, such as loss of lives after a major cyclone, or damage to crucial infrastructure after coastal inundation. </p>
<p>Finalising such a fund means wealthy nations and major emitters must now allocate funds to address these forms of loss and damage in the Pacific. </p>
<p>With other nations – including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, the UAE and Germany – already making announcements to contribute to this new Loss and Damage Fund, Australia must also do its part. </p>
<p>Australia should be supporting our Pacific neighbours by actively contributing to this global fund and recognising our responsibilities as a major fossil fuel producer.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cop28-climate-summit-just-approved-a-loss-and-damage-fund-what-does-this-mean-218999">COP28 climate summit just approved a 'loss and damage' fund. What does this mean?</a>
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<h2>Committing to fossil fuel phase out key to winning Pacific support</h2>
<p>The only way to actually stop harming communities in the Pacific is to stop adding fuel to the fire. That means stopping the approval of new coal, oil and gas projects and committing to a managed phase-out of fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Australia has put up its hand to host COP31 with Pacific island countries in 2026.
To be a successful host of the UN climate talks, Australia will need to actively support the Pacific’s fight for survival. We can’t just keep throwing money at the problem. We need to be part of the solution.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219399/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wesley Morgan is a senior researcher with the Climate Council</span></em></p>As Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen lands in Dubai for COP28, Australia has announced an extra A$150 in climate finance with a focus on the Pacific region.Wesley Morgan, Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2172582023-11-08T02:21:42Z2023-11-08T02:21:42Z26 years ago, Howard chose fossil fuels over the Pacific. What will Albanese choose?<p>Hot on the heels of trips to Washington and Beijing, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is now in the Cook Islands for the Pacific Island Forum. There, he will aim to strengthen relations with Pacific countries and reaffirm Australia’s place as a security partner of choice.</p>
<p>But to do that, he’ll have to repair a historic split from when former prime minister John Howard met with Pacific leaders on the same island, Aitutaki, a quarter of a century ago to defend his choice to expand Australia’s fossil fuel industries. </p>
<p>Pacific leaders see climate change as by far their greatest security threat. Sea level rise, stronger cyclones, marine heatwaves and ocean acidification pose existential threats. They will ask Albanese to support a regional declaration for a phaseout of fossil fuels.</p>
<p>What will happen on the atoll? We could see history repeat – Pacific outrage, Australian intransigence. Or we could see a better outcome, if Albanese signals Australia is at last ready to move away from fossil fuels. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/after-decades-putting-the-brakes-on-global-action-does-australia-deserve-to-host-un-climate-talks-with-pacific-nations-194055">After decades putting the brakes on global action, does Australia deserve to host UN climate talks with Pacific nations?</a>
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<h2>A split in Aitutaki</h2>
<p>When a scientific consensus on global warming <a href="https://public.wmo.int/en/bulletin/history-climate-activities#:%7E:text=The%20first%20session%20of%20the,which%20was%20to%20lead%20to">emerged in the mid-1980s</a>, Australia’s initial response was aligned with Pacific nations. In fact, they <a href="https://www.forumsec.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/1990-Communique-Port-Vila_-Vanuatu-31-Jul-1-Aug.pdf">called for</a> industrialised countries to immediately cut greenhouse gas emissions in a joint statement in 1990.</p>
<p>Pacific island nations <a href="https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/42605/chapter-abstract/357547443?redirectedFrom=fulltext">suggested</a> Australia’s national target – to cut emissions by 20% by 2005 – should be binding for all developed countries.</p>
<p>That brief window soon closed. Under <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Marian-Wilkinson-Carbon-Club-9781760875992">sustained lobbying</a> from the fossil fuel industry, the Australian government came to see global climate action <a href="https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2022/01/10/letting-the-team-down-considering-australias-approach-to-climate-policy-after-glasgow/">as a threat to economic prosperity</a>.</p>
<p>At the first Conference of Parties (COP1) to the UN climate convention in 1995, Australia’s negotiators argued for a weaker emissions target because our economy was <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1467-8497.2005.00371.x">more fossil fuel dependent</a> than comparable nations. This positioning in the UN climate talks was further entrenched when Howard came to power in 1996.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558223/original/file-20231108-21-umy0hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aitutaki island lagoon and sea and island" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558223/original/file-20231108-21-umy0hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558223/original/file-20231108-21-umy0hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=208&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558223/original/file-20231108-21-umy0hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=208&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558223/original/file-20231108-21-umy0hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=208&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558223/original/file-20231108-21-umy0hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=261&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558223/original/file-20231108-21-umy0hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=261&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558223/original/file-20231108-21-umy0hf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=261&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One issue, two prime ministers on the same island, 26 years apart.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Differences with island nations came to a head at the 1997 South Pacific Forum, when island leaders tried to persuade Howard to support their calls for globally binding emissions cuts ahead of Kyoto Protocol negotiations later that year. Discussions in Aitutaki turned bitter and ran into overtime <a href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-343956173/view?sectionId=nla.obj-346063032&partId=nla.obj-343958056#page/n10/mode/1up">in the airport lounge</a>.</p>
<p>Howard was not moved. At the Kyoto negotiations, Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-hit-its-kyoto-target-but-it-was-more-a-three-inch-putt-than-a-hole-in-one-44731">sought and won its own clause</a>, allowing it to actually increase emissions, and expand its fossil fuel industries. </p>
<p>Afterwards, the Cook Islands prime minister Geoffrey Henry <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/0-306-47981-8_7">described Australia’s approach</a> as a “self-serving” attempt to protect coal and energy intensive industries. Tuvalu prime minister Bikenibau Paeniu <a href="https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-343956173/view?sectionId=nla.obj-346063032&partId=nla.obj-343958056#page/n10/mode/1up">told regional media</a> that “Australia dominates us so much in this region, for once we would have liked to have got some respect”.</p>
<p>For his part, Howard <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1467-8497.2005.00371.x">dismissed</a> concerns that climate change and sea-level rise could threaten island states as “exaggerated” and “apocalyptic”.</p>
<p>Australia’s decision has rankled ever since. </p>
<h2>Could we see Australia repair the rift?</h2>
<p>For his part, Albanese has said he wants to repair the climate rift. At last year’s forum, he joined island leaders to <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/albanese-joins-pacific-leaders-to-declare-climate-emergency-20220714-p5b1iz">declare a Pacific climate emergency</a>. Australia <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/australia-pacific-nations-bid-co-host-2026-un-climate-summit-2022-11-05/">is bidding</a> to host the UN climate talks in 2026 in partnership with Pacific island countries, a move island leaders have <a href="https://www.forumsec.org/2022/07/17/report-communique-of-the-51st-pacific-islands-forum-leaders-meeting/">formally welcomed</a>. But it’s also clear Pacific countries want him to support a regional declaration to phase out fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Pacific governments have not been sitting still. This year, a group of Pacific governments <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5dd3cc5b7fd99372fbb04561/t/6423bbb64f3bbb2785ad3719/1680063415682/Outcome%2BText%2B-%2BPort%2BVila%2BCall%2Bfor%2Ba%2BJust%2BTransition%2Bto%2Ba%2BFossil%2BFuel%2BFree%2BPacific.pdf">called for a fossil-fuel-free Pacific</a>. Island countries want to establish a new Pacific Energy Commissioner to oversee the region’s energy transition. </p>
<p>Pacific countries are also campaigning for a global <a href="https://fossilfueltreaty.org/fossil-free-pacific">Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty</a> which would oversee the end of fossil fuel expansion. These goals will be put to leaders again this week – including Albanese. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558200/original/file-20231108-23-zvr6to.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="pacific island ministers meeting at port villa. group of people standing for a photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558200/original/file-20231108-23-zvr6to.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/558200/original/file-20231108-23-zvr6to.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558200/original/file-20231108-23-zvr6to.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558200/original/file-20231108-23-zvr6to.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558200/original/file-20231108-23-zvr6to.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558200/original/file-20231108-23-zvr6to.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/558200/original/file-20231108-23-zvr6to.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">When Pacific ministers met in Vanuatu’s Port Vila in March, they emerged with calls for a fossil-fuel-free Pacific.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Voyager Pacific Studios</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>There are signs Albanese will arrive <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-07/pacific-islands-forum-australia-climate-targets-under-microscope/103070152">with new climate finance in hand</a>, including A$50 million for the global Green Climate Fund and funds for a regional Pacific Resilience Facility. Support to tackle rising climate adaptation costs will be welcomed, but it won’t be enough for Pacific leaders. What they want to see is their regionally powerful neighbour actually stop adding fuel to the fire.</p>
<p>Vanuatu’s climate minister Ralph Regenvanu says Pacific nations need <a href="https://climatechangenews.com/2023/11/04/australias-cop31-is-welcome-but-its-words-must-be-matched-with-action/">genuine allies</a> who will make substantive commitments to move away from coal, oil and gas.</p>
<h2>No stopping the global energy transition</h2>
<p>It’s not just Pacific nations calling on Australia to commit to a fossil fuel phase-out. Germany’s international climate envoy Jennifer Morgan is headed to this week’s forum to call on Australia to <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/step-it-up-germany-urges-australia-to-lift-climate-game-20231106-p5ehtn">support the European Union push</a> for a phase-out at next month’s UN COP28 climate talks in Dubai. </p>
<p>Ambassador Morgan <a href="https://abc.net.au/listen/programs/radionational-breakfast/germany-s-climate-envoy-says-australia-must-step-it-up-/103072542">this week said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>we have to not only phase out fossil fuels, we need to stop building new infrastructure for fossil fuels, because they will become stranded assets. We need to be working on a just transition for workers and building up new industries.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>She has a point. The International Energy Agency last week released its annual World Energy Outlook, which <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/world-energy-outlook-good-bad-ugly#:%7E:text=The%20report%20finds%20that%20investment,track%20to%20hit%20net%20zero.">found</a> global deployment of renewable energy technologies is rapidly overtaking fossil fuel projects, and demand for fossil fuels is likely to peak before 2030.</p>
<p>Australia’s economic interests are shifting as the world economy heads toward net zero emissions. Gas and coal aren’t the only valuable things underneath Australian dirt – we’ve got a wealth of critical minerals vital to the clean energy transition.</p>
<p>Governments have no choice but to plan for the inevitable decline of fossil fuels and smooth the transition to clean energy industries such as battery manufacturing and green hydrogen and ammonia.</p>
<p>The sooner Australia gets on with the transition away from fossil fuels, the sooner we will be embraced by the rest of the Pacific family. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/both-the-us-and-australia-are-adamant-the-pacific-matters-but-only-one-is-really-moving-the-dial-215069">Both the US and Australia are adamant the Pacific "matters". But only one is really moving the dial</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217258/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wesley Morgan is a senior researcher with the Climate Council.</span></em></p>In 1997, John Howard chose expansion of Australian fossil fuels over Pacific concerns about climate change. Will Albanese finally mend the rift?Wesley Morgan, Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2150692023-11-06T05:41:09Z2023-11-06T05:41:09ZBoth the US and Australia are adamant the Pacific “matters”. But only one is really moving the dial<p>Just before the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/09/25/u-s-pacific-islands-forum-leaders-statement-on-reaffirming-u-s-pacific-partnership/">second</a> summit between the US and the Pacific Islands Forum at the White House in September, the US hosts <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/25/biden-pacific-islands-aid-china">took Pacific leaders</a> to an American football game. One, however, was conspicuously <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/24/biden-pacific-summit-suffers-setback-as-solomon-islands-pm-skips-meeting">absent</a>: Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. </p>
<p>This led many to <a href="https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/china-watcher/solomon-islands-plays-pacific-summit-spoiler/">question</a> whether Sogavare’s absence was evidence that in another kind of competition – the rivalry between the US and China for influence in Oceania – Beijing had taken the lead.</p>
<p>Sogavare has made no secret of his increasing cosiness with China. His government decided in 2019 to “<a href="https://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-09/21/c_138411016.htm">switch</a>” diplomatic relations from Taiwan to China, for instance, and signed a controversial <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/24/world/asia/china-solomon-islands-security-pact.html">security agreement</a> with Beijing three years later.</p>
<p>The US, however, has not stood idly by. After last year’s inaugural US-Pacific
<a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-pacific-islands-country-summit/">summit</a>, Washington announced a new <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/09/29/fact-sheet-president-biden-unveils-first-ever-pacific-partnership-strategy/">Pacific Partnership Strategy</a>, with shared goals and priorities on climate change mitigation, nuclear nonproliferation, maritime security and post-pandemic economic recovery. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>As the Pacific Islands Forum is holding its annual summit this week, we’ve asked experts on the Pacific to examine the great power competition in the region. How are countries like the US, Australia, China and others attempting to wield power and influence in the Pacific? And how effective has it been? You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-are-global-powers-engaging-with-the-pacific-and-who-is-most-effective-these-5-maps-provide-a-glimpse-213768">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>The US also made a <a href="https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/09/us-pledges-more-than-800-million-to-pacific-islands-to-thwart-china/">pledge</a> of US$810 million (A$1.275 billion) to the Pacific. Some US$600 million (A$945 million) of this was earmarked for the <a href="https://www.forumsec.org/forum-fisheries-agency-ffa/">Pacific Fisheries Agency</a> to contain illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.</p>
<p>The US has also gotten its allies involved. Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom joined forces with the US last year to <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/news/media-release/joint-statement-announcement-partners-blue-pacific-initiative">form</a> a group called Partners in the Blue Pacific to co-ordinate their outreach to the region.</p>
<p>With this engagement, the US has been <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2023/09/us-pacific-policy-forges-ahead-with-successful-2nd-summit/">seen</a> as finally taking the region seriously and – more to the point – China’s growing footprint as a threat to its interests. Oceania now appears to matter. </p>
<p>As the Pacific Islands Forum holds its annual summit in the Cook Islands this week, it’s a good time to reflect on this increased interest from outside powers, such as the US, China and Australia, and what it all means – especially to the people of the region.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/us-takes-a-renewed-interest-in-the-pacific-and-chinas-role-in-it-190053">US takes a renewed interest in the Pacific – and China's role in it</a>
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<h2>Surface-level engagement?</h2>
<p>For the US, interest in the Pacific Islands seemingly centres on China and tuna. But these interests alone don’t place the region above others in order of strategic importance. </p>
<p>On China, the Biden administration’s February 2022 <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/U.S.-Indo-Pacific-Strategy.pdf">Indo-Pacific Strategy</a> serves as a useful guide. It says China’s “coercion and aggression spans the globe, but it is most acute in the Indo-Pacific”. </p>
<p>However, despite the speculation around Chinese <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/07/chinas-search-permanent-military-presence-pacific-islands">bases</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-kiribati-exclusive/china-plans-to-revive-strategic-pacific-airstrip-kiribati-lawmaker-says-idUSKBN2CM0IZ">airstrips</a> and <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/china-and-nz/300513929/a-quiet-militarisation-of-the-pacific-region-is-under-way">wharves</a> in the Pacific, the extent of Chinese military presence in the region has been muted.</p>
<p>Indeed, the US is the predominant military power in the Pacific. It has:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47589">bases</a> in Australia, Guam, Hawai'i, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines </p></li>
<li><p>a newly <a href="https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-and-papua-new-guinea-sign-new-defense-cooperation-agreement-and-an-agreement-concerning-counter-illicit-transnational-maritime-activity-operations/">inked</a> security deal with Papua New Guinea</p></li>
<li><p>exclusive military <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12194">access</a> to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>US supremacy in the north Pacific also means these states are more likely to adopt Washington’s positions in global affairs, making Sogavare’s stance on China more of an anomaly.</p>
<p>And on the US support for the fisheries agency, it’s worth looking at the numbers and motivation. Not only is the $600 million commitment spread over ten years, it is only three-quarters of the total funding promised in 2022. </p>
<p>This pledge also serves as yet another form of regional deterrence against Beijing, since China’s <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/fishing-for-answers">highly subsidised</a> fleets are the ones primarily accused of illegal fishing.</p>
<p>By comparison, the US doesn’t seem as interested in establishing scholarships, construction, investment and trade in the Pacific – all areas where China thrives. </p>
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<h2>Australia charts a different path</h2>
<p>In Australia, however, there seems to be movement of the dial. In October, for instance, the <a href="https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/media-release/deepening-connections-our-region-through-pacific-engagement-visa">Pacific Engagement Visa</a> finally passed in parliament. This will allow up to 3,000 Pacific islanders to permanently settle in Australia every year. </p>
<p>The significance of the visa lies in its potential to transform Australia into a nation that looks more like the Pacific. </p>
<p>For Pacific Islanders, reams of <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/development-benefits-expanding-pacific-access-australia-s-labour-market">research</a> show access to permanent migration is more effective than development assistance. The gains to Pacific families are almost immediate, too. </p>
<p>From a national interest perspective, there’s the side benefit that welcoming Pacific migrants is something China will not do. As Fiji’s deputy prime minister <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-19/labor-expands-pacific-immigration-with-new-visa/102997646">argued</a>, “this is part of a broader strategy to integrate the region in the long term”. </p>
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<p>The Australian government faces a similar bind to the US, however. Military concerns can be acted upon much more quickly than economic or developmental needs.
And Australia’s military spend in the Pacific – whether or not it’s in response to a clear threat from China – reinforces the longstanding perception Canberra is more interested in securing the region’s territory than the wellbeing of its people.</p>
<p>Unlike China, Australia’s government can’t direct companies to invest in the region, even though this is what Pacific leaders are keen on. (Telstra’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/australias-telstra-completes-digicel-pacific-buyout-2022-07-14/">purchase</a> of Digicel Pacific is the lonely exception.) </p>
<p>While much ink has been spilled on <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/chinese-debt-for-pacific-nations-a-security-risk-wong-20220616-p5au6g">China’s debt trap diplomacy</a>, its true hold over Pacific leaders is the promise of future projects, the pipeline of investments. </p>
<p>China’s special envoy to the Pacific, Qian Bo, is known to regale his Pacific counterparts with derisory observations about Australia’s economy and its inability to meet the Pacific’s needs, either as a destination for Pacific exports or a source of investment. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-are-global-powers-engaging-with-the-pacific-and-who-is-most-effective-these-5-maps-provide-a-glimpse-213768">How are global powers engaging with the Pacific? And who is most effective? These 5 maps provide a glimpse</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>Greatly lifting Australia’s Pacific aid spend is also politically tricky, even though public sentiment has been <a href="https://devpolicy.org/australian-public-opinion-about-aid-20221202/">shifting</a> in recent years. </p>
<p>Significantly, Australia’s minister for international development <a href="https://ministers.dfat.gov.au/minister/pat-conroy/transcript/audience-qa-development-policy-forum-australian-national-university">recently</a> took aim at “transactional” development projects designed to help heads of mission solve “short-term” problems. This trend is particularly evident in the Pacific, where Australia’s aid is <a href="https://devpolicy.org/australias-problem-with-pacific-aid-20200529/">least effective</a>. </p>
<p>While China’s Pacific aid has <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/chinese-aid-pacific-decreasing-not-disappearing">plateaued</a> since 2016, there’s little danger of domestic push-back on scholarships for the children of political elites, massive stadiums and sleek government buildings. And China’s infrastructure spend has prompted Australia to move from grant-based aid to providing <a href="https://www.aiffp.gov.au/">development infrastructure financing</a> itself. </p>
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<h2>Becoming a true Pacific nation</h2>
<p>The material impact of all of this foreign interest is what matters in the region. </p>
<p>The US has long <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/the-americans-are-coming/">faced</a> accusations of quickly losing interest in the Pacific, even if President Joe Biden <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seoFLJFVu78">says</a> it will be different this time. </p>
<p>However, if “strategic denial” of China is the only area where the US is willing to commit to on-the-ground change, this doesn’t place the Pacific islands high on the list of American priorities around the world. And it barely scratches the concerns about climate change and economic development voiced across region.</p>
<p>When Chinese President Xi Jinping <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/we-re-a-pacific-nation-biden-s-pledge-to-australia-on-china-20231026-p5ef2m">asked</a> Biden why America was working so strongly with Australia, he apparently replied, “because we’re a Pacific nation”. Yet, if former President Donald Trump is re-elected, the Pacific could face an administration that mocks climate change and has little interest in the region beyond China and tuna. </p>
<p>In contrast, with the Pacific Engagement Visa, Australia has taken an important step towards becoming an actual Pacific nation. And even though the opposition is led by a man who once <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-11/dutton-overheard-joking-about-sea-levels-in-pacific-islands/6768324">joked</a> about rising sea levels, there is bipartisan conviction the Pacific matters. </p>
<p>The question of why it matters is something for all Australians to reflect on. Because the why part matters a lot to the Pacific.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215069/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While the US is still primarily focused on countering Chinese influence in the region, Australia is making a real impact with its Pacific Engagement Visa.Henryk Szadziewski, Research Affiliate, Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of HawaiiGraeme Smith, Associate professor, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2090382023-08-10T01:17:41Z2023-08-10T01:17:41ZMeet 5 marvellous mammals of the South Pacific you’ve probably never heard of<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541646/original/file-20230808-21-gvt2ao.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C37%2C2741%2C2086&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/waigeo-spotted-cuscus-relaxing-on-branch-1722987340">Arie de Gier, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Islands are renowned for their weird and wonderful wildlife. These isolated ecosystems present unparalleled opportunities to study evolution, and the archipelagos of the southwest Pacific are no exception. </p>
<p>This vast and diverse region encompasses 24 nations and territories. It also includes four “<a href="https://www.cepf.net/our-work/biodiversity-hotspots">biodiversity hotspots</a>”: the East Melanesian Islands, Polynesia-Micronesia, New Caledonia and New Zealand. Each contains at least 1,500 plant species found nowhere else on Earth. So their total land area may be small, but south-west Pacific islands punch well above their weight in terms of their contributions to global biodiversity.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7928/">latest book</a> provides glimpses of more than 180 native mammals of the southwest Pacific, on islands that fall under the banners of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia (but excluding the island of New Guinea). Indigenous species of marsupials, bats, rodents and a monotreme are among the animals found here. Not surprisingly, half of these are endemic. Many are found only on a single island or small group of islands.</p>
<p>Let’s meet five charismatic species you’ve probably never have heard of, but simply must get to know.</p>
<h2>1. Black dorcopsis or black forest wallaby (<em>Dorcopsis atrata</em>)</h2>
<p><strong>Conservation status: critically endangered</strong></p>
<p><strong>Distribution: Goodenough Island (Papua New Guinea)</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A drawing of the black dorcopsis or black forest wallaby, side view." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541588/original/file-20230807-19-dbkg37.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The black dorcopsis (<em>Dorcopsis atrata</em>) is an enigmatic wallaby from forests on the mountains of Papua New Guinea’s Goodenough Island.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Madison Erin Mayfield</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the southeastern tip of Papua New Guinea is the gravity-defying Goodenough Island. It looms more than 2,500 metres above sea level, but it’s only about 3,900 metres wide – at the widest point. </p>
<p>Goodenough’s higher peaks are covered in rare forests. Here among the clouds is the only place you’ll find black dorcopsis.</p>
<p>Black dorcopsis often have very worn claws, suggesting they spend a great deal of time <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1754504811000195">digging for truffles</a> in the rocky soil. This probably plays an important role in dispersing fungi throughout their habitat. </p>
<p>Curiously, some appear to be wearing white gloves, on one or both front paws. Others do not. No one knows why. </p>
<h2>2. Waigeo cuscus (<em>Spilocuscus papuensis</em>)</h2>
<p><strong>Conservation status: vulnerable</strong></p>
<p><strong>Distribution: Waigeo (Indonesia)</strong></p>
<p>Waigeo cuscus have a remarkable coat. Irregular black splotches stand out against a background of almost pure white. In young animals these contrasting colours are subdued by the presence of blackish-grey tips to the hairs. </p>
<p>The cuscus have been photographed in the branches of fruiting fig (<em>Ficus</em> spp.) and breadfruit (<em>Artocarpus altilis</em>) trees, so they have a taste for fruit.</p>
<h2>3. Bougainville melomys (<em>Melomys bougainville</em>)</h2>
<p><strong>Conservation status: data deficient</strong></p>
<p><strong>Distribution: Bougainville (Papua New Guinea), Choiseul and Mono (Solomon Islands)</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of the native rodent Bougainville melomys standing on brown leaf litter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541590/original/file-20230807-23-tde9av.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Bougainville melomys (<em>Melomys bougainville</em>) occurs in a wide variety of habitat on the islands of Bougainville, Choiseul and Mono.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Richards</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Pacific Island native rodents have proven vulnerable to disturbance, but thankfully Bougainville melomys seems to remain relatively common. </p>
<p>The contrast between orange fur on the head and back, and crisp white fur on the belly is rather attractive. </p>
<p>An active climber, Bougainville melomys can be found tiptoeing along thin woody vines (lianas), in fruiting trees among Bismarck common cuscuses (<em>Phalanger breviceps</em>), or scaling the trunks of wild betel nut palms (<em>Areca</em> spp.). They’ll tolerate disturbance and have been known to visit village edges to nibble on cultivated bananas.</p>
<h2>4. Lesser sheath-tailed bat (<em>Mosia nigrescens</em>)</h2>
<p><strong>Conservation status: least concern</strong></p>
<p><strong>Distribution: Widespread throughout Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of three lesser sheath-tail bats huddled under a palm tree leaf" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541591/original/file-20230807-675-za2v2r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lesser sheath-tail bats (<em>Mosia nigrescens</em>) are endearing little animals that roost in ‘tents’ under palm tree leaves across parts of Melanesia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Richards</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>If you’re quiet and patient while walking through the palm-filled lowland forests of Melanesia, you might be lucky enough to spot one of the region’s smallest and most common echo locating bats. </p>
<p>Lesser sheath-tailed bats are alert little creatures with good eyesight. They rest in small groups huddled together under the cover of a palm leaf where they’re sheltered from the rain. Although watchful, they’ll stay in place if approached with caution, allowing time to view how neatly stacked they are. </p>
<p>Lesser sheath-tailed bats are among the first to emerge of an evening, leaving their palm tree tents while there is still plenty of twilight. They fly in sharp circles in the open spaces above forests and villages. Then as darkness falls, they move away to focus on other areas. </p>
<p>Later in the evening you can find them back in the same roosts, again lined up front to back, taking a breather from their busy schedule of hunting for insects on the wing.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-island-bats-are-utterly-fascinating-yet-under-threat-and-overlooked-meet-4-species-165765">Pacific Island bats are utterly fascinating, yet under threat and overlooked. Meet 4 species</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>5. Palau flying-fox (<em>Pteropus pelewensis</em>)</h2>
<p><strong>Conservation status: vulnerable</strong></p>
<p><strong>Distribution: Ulithi, Yap (Federated States of Micronesia), Palau</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A photo of a Palau flying-fox with outstretched wings, flying over a green landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541592/original/file-20230807-27645-ndrc99.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Palau flying-fox (<em>Pteropus pelewensis</em>) has suffered from hunting and international trade.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thibaud Aronson</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The south-west Pacific supports an incredible diversity of endemic <em>Pteropus</em> flying-foxes. Over-harvesting and international trade for human consumption pushed most of Micronesia’s flying-foxes to the brink of extinction (and in fact did send two species extinct). </p>
<p>Thankfully the introduction of restrictions under the <a href="https://cites.org/eng">Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species</a> stabilised populations of the Palau fying-fox. However, it remains <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/118093652/206768055">vulnerable</a> and threatened by habitat loss and climate change.</p>
<h2>So much to learn</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Illustrated book cover for Mammals of the South-West Pacific" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=865&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1087&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1087&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541608/original/file-20230808-25-kenxlv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1087&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p>The species showcased here represent just a small fraction of the diversity of south-west Pacific mammals. </p>
<p>So many unique species evolved here, on discrete areas of land separated by ocean. </p>
<p>Unfortunately islands are also vulnerable to human disturbance and extinctions have <a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-island-bats-are-utterly-fascinating-yet-under-threat-and-overlooked-meet-4-species-165765">already occurred</a> here. </p>
<p>There is still much to learn about many of these mammals. We hope <a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/book/7928/">this book</a> will inspire more research, including how we can keep these fascinating island inhabitants thriving in a time of such great environmental change. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-werent-to-blame-for-the-extinction-of-prehistoric-island-dwelling-animals-160092">Humans weren't to blame for the extinction of prehistoric island-dwelling animals</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209038/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tyrone Lavery has received funding from the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, The Australian Museum, The Field Museum of Natural History, Fondation Segre, The Australia Pacific Science Foundation, and the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>From the cuscus with the fancy coat, to the wallaby often sporting a single white glove, a wide variety of life evolved on island homes in the south-west Pacific.Tyrone Lavery, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2104602023-07-31T20:00:13Z2023-07-31T20:00:13ZAustralia should offer our ‘Pacific family’ access rather than simply reacting to China<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540056/original/file-20230730-25689-rnb5nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/EPA/Andy Wong/ Pool</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>During his <a href="https://ministers.dfat.gov.au/minister/pat-conroy/speech/solomon-islands-university-honiara">recent speech at the Solomon Islands National University</a>, Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy said “strategic competition […] is an unavoidable reality for our region”. </p>
<p>July has already seen Solomon Islands Prime Minister <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/11/solomon-islands-signs-controversial-policing-pact-with-china">Manasseh Sogavare visit China</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/23/emmanuel-macron-pacific-tour-png-new-caledonia-papa-new-guinea">French President Emmanuel Macron visit</a> Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia, and <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-blinkens-trip-to-tonga-new-zealand-and-australia/">United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken visit</a> Tonga (Australia and New Zealand). </p>
<p>This follows visits by an array of <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/modi-in-papua-new-guinea-leader-of-the-global-south-or-quad-partner/">leaders</a> and senior officials to the region over the past year. There have been several <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/why-did-south-korea-invite-pacific-leaders-to-a-summit-and-why-did-they-go/">high-level dialogues</a>, including the historic <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-pacific-islands-country-summit/">United States-Pacific Island Country Summit</a> in September 2022.</p>
<p>Reflecting its proximity and historic role, Australia has been at the forefront of this competition. Since launching its “<a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/pacific">Pacific step-up</a>” in 2018, it has committed billions of dollars (on top of being the <a href="https://pacificaidmap.lowyinstitute.org/">largest donor</a>), and instigated a raft of security, infrastructure and other activities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/on-the-pacific-the-new-government-must-be-bold-and-go-big-heres-how-the-repair-work-could-begin-183598">On the Pacific, the new government must be bold and go big. Here's how the repair work could begin</a>
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<p>But too often Australia’s initiatives have resembled <a href="https://www.9dashline.com/article/pushing-the-limits-of-australias-strategic-imagination-in-the-pacific-islands">whack-a-mole reactions to China’s activities</a>. For example, the government funded Telstra to buy Digicel Pacific after <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-59033485">China Mobile expressed interest</a>. It also built the <a href="https://coralseacablecompany.com/">Coral Sea Cable</a> after <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-14/png-to-get-new-australia-funded-undersea-internet-cable/9146570">Huawei bid to lay it</a>, and it re-developed the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/366386/australian-offer-over-fiji-base-beats-china-s">Black Rock Peacekeeping and Humanitarian & Disaster Relief Camp</a> after China indicated interest. <a href="https://www.aiffp.gov.au/">Australia’s Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific</a> seeks to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure lending, motivated by – <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/08/debunking-myth-debt-trap-diplomacy">disputed</a> – claims about “<a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/chinese-debt-for-pacific-nations-a-security-risk-wong-20220616-p5au6g">debt-trap diplomacy</a>”.</p>
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<p>After a July visit to Solomon Islands, Defence Minister Richard Marles suggested that Australia is “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-19/australia-happy-to-support-solomon-islands-defence-force/102622652?s=03">very keen</a>” to whack another mole: helping Solomon Islands to establish a military. </p>
<p>This followed Sogavare <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/11/solomon-islands-signs-controversial-policing-pact-with-china">signing a policing pact</a> during his visit to China. That pact built on a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/20/the-deal-that-shocked-the-world-inside-the-china-solomons-security-pact#:%7E:text=According%20to%20accounts%20from%20diplomatic,block%20Chinese%20influence%20in%20the">bilateral security agreement</a> signed in April 2022 that several Australian commentators interpreted as paving the way for a <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/chinas-maritime-deal-with-solomon-islands-hints-at-dual-use-facilities/">Chinese military base</a>. However, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/14/solomon-islands-pm-rules-out-chinese-military-base-china-australia-security-partner-manasseh-sogavare">Solomon Islands government refutes this</a>.</p>
<p>While it is the Solomon Islands government’s sovereign right to establish a military, questions over its likely benefit should give Australia pause. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-07-19/australia-happy-to-support-solomon-islands-defence-force/102622652?s=03">Law and order are best guaranteed by police</a>, and ultimately, by addressing <a href="https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/282503/4/Personal%20Reflections%20on%20Political%20Economy%20and%20Nation-Building%20in%20Solomon%20Islands_Transform%20Aqorau_Working%20Paper_Department%20of%20Pacific%20Affairs.pdf">sociopolitical challenges</a>. This includes <a href="https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/profiles/solomon-islands">uneven development and underdevelopment</a>. </p>
<p>Solomon Islands does not share a land border (a justification for Papua New Guinea having a defence force), and its maritime territory is already protected by a police maritime unit <a href="https://solomonislands.embassy.gov.au/honi/120509120509.html">aided by the Australia-backed Pacific Maritime Security Programme</a>. While the logistical capabilities of defence forces are useful for humanitarian and disaster relief, given challenges of funding and scale, the most efficient way to provide it would be through <a href="https://www.aspi.org.au/report/smooth-sailing">developing a regional capability</a>.</p>
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<p>Australia may be concerned that China will otherwise step in. But even if Australia does help, it wouldn’t have the right to control a new Solomon Islands’ defence force. And while Australia provided substantial assistance to rebuild Solomon Islands’ police force during <a href="https://www.ramsi.org/">RAMSI</a>, that hasn’t stopped China from developing its own relationship with that force, including through <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-04/china-to-gift-solomon-islands-police-tucks-vehicles/101614464">providing training and equipment</a>. </p>
<p>There are also a few cautionary tales from elsewhere in the Pacific. The deployment of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) during the Bougainville conflict exemplified how a military can be used against a domestic population. And coups in Fiji demonstrate how the military can unseat a government. Australia had established the PNGDF during its colonial administration and had provided decades of support to the Fijian military.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/risks-escalating-strategic-competition-pacific-islands">Australia has legitimate strategic interests</a> in Solomon Islands and the Pacific more broadly. And it is right to be concerned about China’s activism. But it needs to think carefully about how it responds.</p>
<p>In fact, there are alternative ways for Australia to improve its regional relationships that are far less costly – and risky.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629823001130?via%3Dihub">Australia makes it difficult</a> for Pacific people to come to Australia. It hosts temporary Pacific workers under the <a href="https://www.palmscheme.gov.au/">Pacific Australia Labour Mobility</a> (PALM) scheme, as well as Pacific students, many of whom are <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/stretton/ua/media/681/ua30629-stretton-centre-paper-2-digital.pdf">funded by Australia Awards</a>. But these programs often have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629823001130?via%3Dihub">culturally, economically, and legally exclusionary consequences</a>. </p>
<p>The Labor government is attempting to improve the <a href="https://www.palmscheme.gov.au/node/109">Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme</a> and enhance the experience of Pacific Australia Award students. Its establishment of the <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/pacific-engagement-visa">Pacific Engagement Visa</a> that will allocate 3,000 permanent migration places to Pacific peoples annually is welcome. But that scheme has been delayed, and <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/answers-needed-pacific-engagement-visa">questions about its implementation</a> <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/bracing-3000-pacific-engagement-visas">remain unanswered</a>.</p>
<p>It is time for Australia to <a href="https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/australianoutlook/australias-pacific-policy-under-the-alp-heading-in-the-right-direction/">implement a visa-waiver program</a> for citizens of Pacific countries. While citizens of certain wealthy countries can apply in advance for free visitor visas (and New Zealand citizens can apply for one on arrival), citizens from Pacific countries are only eligible for expensive visas, which require extensive paperwork. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10357718.2021.1951657?journalCode=caji20">contradiction</a> between Australia describing the region as its “Pacific family”, yet making it difficult for Pacific peoples to visit, has <a href="https://www.whitlam.org/publications/2020/2/13/pacific-perspectives-on-the-world">generated frustration in the region</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-where-we-live-has-australia-been-a-good-neighbour-in-the-pacific-182040">This is where we live: has Australia been a good neighbour in the Pacific?</a>
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<p>Indeed, most Pacific countries offer Australians the ability to obtain visitor/tourist visas on arrival. And Pacific leaders have long <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/programs/pacificbeat/fiji-re-ignites-calls-for-visa-free-travel-to-australia-and-nz/102459122">lobbied</a> for a <a href="https://www.sibconline.com.sb/solomon-islands-seeks-reciprocal-visa-waiver-from-australia-and-new-zealand/">visa-waiver</a> from Australia. </p>
<p>After all, if Australia genuinely sees itself as part of the “Pacific family”, why do we throw open our door to Europeans and Americans, but not to Pacific people? </p>
<p>A visa-waiver program could also be the precursor to Pacific people being offered <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/its-time-for-australia-to-offer-the-south-pacific-what-beijing-cant/">visa-free entry</a> similar to what we offer New Zealanders. That would be a genuine act of family <a href="https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/speech/national-statement-un-general-assembly-new-york">“care” and “love”</a>. And something China can’t beat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210460/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne Wallis receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Department of Defence.</span></em></p>Instead of just offering defence funding, we need to look at how hard we make it for Pacific Islanders to come here if we want a really meaningful relationship.Joanne Wallis, Professor of International Security, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2088422023-07-24T20:09:30Z2023-07-24T20:09:30ZCould the law of the sea be used to protect small island states from climate change?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538883/original/file-20230724-17-1jv182.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C40%2C5321%2C3534&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chea-vilalge-solomon-islands-june-15-1676150584">Oliver Foerstner, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Climate change will wreak havoc on <a href="https://www.un.org/ohrlls/content/about-small-island-developing-states">small island developing states</a> in the Pacific and elsewhere. Some will be swamped by rising seas. These communities also face more extreme weather, increasingly acidic oceans, coral bleaching and harm to fisheries. Food supplies, human health and livelihoods are at risk. And it’s <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/">clear</a> other countries burning fossil fuels are largely to blame. </p>
<p>Yet island states are resourceful. They are not only <a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-give-up-on-pacific-island-nations-yet-83300">adapting</a> to change but also seeking legal advice. The international community has certain legal obligations under the law of the sea. These are rules and customs that divvy up the oceans into maritime zones, while recognising certain freedoms and duties.</p>
<p>So island states are asking whether obligations to address climate change might be contained in the <a href="https://www.un.org/Depts/los/convention_agreements/convention_overview_convention.htm">United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea</a>. This is particularly important as marine issues have not <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop26-failed-to-address-ocean-acidification-but-the-law-of-the-seas-means-states-must-protect-the-worlds-oceans-171949">received</a> the attention they deserve within international climate negotiations.</p>
<p>If states do have specific obligations to stop greenhouse gas pollution damaging the marine environment, then legal consequences for breaching these obligations could follow. It is possible small island states could one day be compensated for the damage done. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cop26-failed-to-address-ocean-acidification-but-the-law-of-the-seas-means-states-must-protect-the-worlds-oceans-171949">COP26 failed to address ocean acidification, but the law of the seas means states must protect the world's oceans</a>
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<h2>Why seek an advisory opinion?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.itlos.org/en/">International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea</a> is an independent judicial body established by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The tribunal has jurisdiction over any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the convention and certain legal questions requested of it. The answers to these questions are known as advisory opinions. </p>
<p>Advisory opinions are not legally binding, they are authoritative statements on legal matters. They provide guidance to states and international organisations about the implementation of international law. </p>
<p>The tribunal has delivered two advisory opinions in the past: on <a href="https://www.itlos.org/index.php?id=109">deep seabed mining</a> and <a href="https://www.itlos.org/en/main/cases/list-of-cases/case-no-21/">illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities</a>. These proceedings attracted submissions from states, international organisations and non-governmental organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).</p>
<p>Late last year, the newly established Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law submitted a <a href="https://www.itlos.org/en/main/cases/list-of-cases/request-for-an-advisory-opinion-submitted-by-the-commission-of-small-island-states-on-climate-change-and-international-law-request-for-advisory-opinion-submitted-to-the-tribunal">request for advice</a> to the tribunal. It concerns the obligations of states to address climate change, including impacts on the marine environment. </p>
<p>The tribunal received more than 50 <a href="https://www.itlos.org/en/main/cases/list-of-cases/request-for-an-advisory-opinion-submitted-by-the-commission-of-small-island-states-on-climate-change-and-international-law-request-for-advisory-opinion-submitted-to-the-tribunal/">written submissions</a> from states and organisations offering opinions on how it should respond. These submissions, from <a href="https://www.itlos.org/fileadmin/itlos/documents/cases/31/written_statements/1/C31-WS-1-11-Australia.PDF">Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.itlos.org/fileadmin/itlos/documents/cases/31/written_statements/1/C31-WS-1-3-New_Zealand.pdf">New Zealand</a> among others, were recently made public. </p>
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<p>While the convention was not designed as a mechanism for regulating climate change, its mandate is broad enough to consider the connection between climate and the oceans. To establish this, the 40-year-old framework agreement must be interpreted in light of changing global circumstances and changing laws, including obligations to <a href="https://www.un.org/bbnj/">strengthen resilience</a> in the high seas. One avenue to achieve this is through an advisory opinion from the tribunal.</p>
<h2>The question before the tribunal</h2>
<p>The question to the tribunal asks, what are the specific obligations of states:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(a) to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment in relation to the deleterious effects that result or are likely to result from climate change, including through ocean warming and sea level rise, and ocean acidification, which are caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere?</p>
<p>(b) to protect and preserve the marine environment in relation to climate change impacts, including ocean warming and sea level rise, and ocean acidification?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This question invokes specific language from the convention. That provides clues as to which sections of the treaty the tribunal will refer to in its opinion. </p>
<p>The question refers explicitly to the part of the convention entitled “Protection and Preservation of the Marine Environment”. This part sets out the general obligation of states to protect and preserve the marine environment, as well as measures to “prevent, reduce and control pollution”. It also tells states they must not transfer damage or hazards, or transform one type of pollution into another.</p>
<p>Pollution of the marine environment is defined in the convention as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment, including estuaries, which results or is likely to result in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources and marine life, hazards to human health, hindrance to marine activities, including fishing and other legitimate uses of the sea, impairment of quality for use of sea water and reduction of amenities.</p>
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<h2>What if states do not meet their obligations?</h2>
<p>The tribunal will need to answer a key question for the law of the sea: can the convention be understood as referring to the drivers and effects of climate change? And if so, in what ways does the convention require that they be addressed by states?</p>
<p>What the commission’s question does not ask is, what happens when states do not meet their obligations? The answer is particularly important to small island states, who are dissatisfied with ongoing negotiations on addressing <a href="https://unfccc.int/topics/adaptation-and-resilience/workstreams/approaches-to-address-loss-and-damage-associated-with-climate-change-impacts-in-developing-countries">loss and damage</a> associated with climate change impacts.</p>
<p>Obligations relating to climate change are contained within other treaties and rules, including the <a href="https://unfccc.int/">UN Framework Convention on Climate Change</a> and the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement">Paris Agreement</a>. Small island states have sought advice from different courts to clarify these obligations. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/187/187-20230419-PRE-01-00-EN.pdf">International Court of Justice</a> will consider a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-un-is-asking-the-international-court-of-justice-for-its-opinion-on-states-climate-obligations-what-does-this-mean-202943">wider set</a> of legal issues on climate obligations next year. </p>
<p>The fact that the court has <a href="https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/187/187-20230622-pre-01-00-en.pdf">authorised</a> the commission to participate in this separate advisory opinion request signals the UN’s main judicial body will take account of the tribunal’s opinion. It’s also worth noting the tribunal is likely to deliver its views on the law of the sea first, setting the stage for a broader interpretation of international law when it comes to taking responsibility for polluting the atmosphere.</p>
<p>Sustained pressure from small island states is advancing our understanding of the obligations of states to address climate change.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-un-is-asking-the-international-court-of-justice-for-its-opinion-on-states-climate-obligations-what-does-this-mean-202943">The UN is asking the International Court of Justice for its opinion on states' climate obligations. What does this mean?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208842/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Margaret Young receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Small island developing states are seeking a legal ‘advisory opinion’ from an international tribunal on whether climate change falls under the international law of the sea.Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb, Lecturer and Research Fellow in Ocean Governance, University of Melbourne and Postdoctoral Researcher, UEF Law School, University of Eastern Finland, The University of MelbourneMargaret Young, Professor, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2026132023-06-26T20:05:40Z2023-06-26T20:05:40ZMarshall Islands, a nation at the heart of global shipping, fights for climate justice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533045/original/file-20230621-25-ssssbu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C112%2C3569%2C2360&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Thousands of ships are registered in Majuro, Marshall Islands.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>I went sailing on a bright yellow outrigger canoe in the Marshall Islands in March. On board were Alson Kelen, founder of <em><a href="https://www.canoesmarshallislands.com/">Waan Aelõñ in Majel</a></em> (WAM, Canoes of the Marshall Islands), and a group of youngsters taking part in a climate justice workshop. </p>
<p>Alson’s NGO is a hive of activity. Sailing ships, some finished and some under construction, surround an A-frame building right between the government-owned Marshall Islands Resort and the Ministry of Education on Majuro Atoll. Alson acquired the land decades ago from the country’s first president, Amata Kabua, for a symbolic dollar. </p>
<p>As we sailed, he told us his organisation’s work is about “empowering the young men and women of the Marshall Islands, endowing them with the skillset essential to bring them into the global society”. It’s keeping the traditions of shipbuilding and wayfaring alive, while offering fossil-fuel-free transport between the country’s islands. </p>
<p>As home to the world’s <a href="https://www.marineinsight.com/maritime-law/top-10-largest-flag-states-in-the-shipping-industry/">third-largest ship registry</a>, the Marshall Islands is a key player in global shipping, while <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2021/10/29/marshall-islands-new-climate-study-visualizes-confronting-risk-of-projected-sea-level-rise">rising sea levels threaten</a> its low-lying islands. This puts the country in a unique position in negotiations on <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/MeetingSummaries/Pages/PREVIEW-MEPC-80-3-7-July-2023.aspx">new shipping emission targets</a>.</p>
<p>Although WAM’s yellow outriggers might not make a dent in greenhouse gas emissions from the world’s cargo ships, these little vessels are a local counterpoint to the Pacific state’s climate diplomacy. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533402/original/file-20230622-19-i0j6uk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/533402/original/file-20230622-19-i0j6uk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533402/original/file-20230622-19-i0j6uk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533402/original/file-20230622-19-i0j6uk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533402/original/file-20230622-19-i0j6uk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533402/original/file-20230622-19-i0j6uk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/533402/original/file-20230622-19-i0j6uk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Alson Kelen explaining how to build and sail Marshallese outrigger canoes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christiaan De Beukelaer</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-reach-net-zero-we-must-decarbonise-shipping-but-two-big-problems-are-getting-in-the-way-170464">To reach net zero, we must decarbonise shipping. But two big problems are getting in the way</a>
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<h2>What’s at stake?</h2>
<p>The need to decarbonise shipping is urgent. Shipping is the most efficient means of cargo transport, but the sheer volume of goods – <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/rmt2022_en.pdf">11 billion tonnes a year</a> – puts its emissions on a par with countries like Germany or Japan. Shipping emissions add up to around <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/ourwork/Environment/Pages/Fourth-IMO-Greenhouse-Gas-Study-2020.aspx">1 billion tonnes a year</a>.</p>
<p>In 2018, the International Maritime Organization (<a href="https://www.imo.org/">IMO</a>), the United Nations agency that regulates shipping, set its first <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/MediaCentre/HotTopics/Pages/Cutting-GHG-emissions.aspx#:%7E:text=2018%20Initial%20IMO%20GHG%20Strategy&text=The%20main%20goals%20are%3A,as%20possible%20in%20this%20century.">sector-wide climate target</a>: to halve shipping emissions between 2008 and 2050. </p>
<p>This “initial strategy” doesn’t align with the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global warming below 1.5°C. It does, however, require a review of the strategy every five years. </p>
<p>A revision is due to be adopted next month. This follows years of go-slow tactics by several large developing countries and lofty commitments by most IMO member states to “keep 1.5 alive”. </p>
<p>Shipping looks increasingly likely to have a target of zero emissions by 2050. Whether that’s “net zero” or “absolute zero”, and whether it counts only emissions on board or the full life cycle of emissions attributable to shipping, is still being negotiated. </p>
<p>Zero by 2050 sounds like a big win. It will certainly be better than the current target. But emissions must come down a lot faster for the 1.5°C limit to remain an option. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/shipping-emissions-must-fall-by-a-third-by-2030-and-reach-zero-before-2050-new-research-167830">Shipping emissions must fall by a third by 2030 and reach zero before 2050 – new research</a>
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<h2>How can the energy transition be made equitable?</h2>
<p>For a low-lying atoll state like the Marshall Islands, climate change is a matter of life and death. Exceeding 1.5°C of warming will likely <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn7950">trigger tipping points</a> that would raise sea levels as ice caps melt. This would inundate the Marshall Islands. </p>
<p>To “keep 1.5 alive”, the Marshall Islands and other Pacific states are calling for hard “<a href="https://www.tradewindsnews.com/regulation/green-seas-nations-call-for-imo-to-adopt-37-emissions-cut-for-shipping-by-end-of-the-decade/2-1-1403998">interim targets</a>” to reduce shipping emissions by 37% by 2030 and 96% by 2040. The <a href="https://www.state.gov/advance_green_shipping">United States</a>, Canada and the United Kingdom have <a href="https://splash247.com/us-lays-out-its-green-goals-for-shipping-ahead-of-mepc-80/">proposed</a> similar targets. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A rising sea level is an existential threat to the Marshall Islands.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Pacific states are also calling for an <a href="https://unctad.org/news/why-should-we-talk-about-just-and-equitable-transition-shipping">equitable energy transition</a>. Just as Alson’s outrigger canoes won’t make much difference to shipping emissions, Pacific islanders – indeed most of the world’s population – didn’t produce the emissions that are causing the climate crisis. </p>
<p>In 2021, the Marshall Islands proposed a <a href="https://lloydslist.maritimeintelligence.informa.com/LL1136097/Marshall-Islands-demands-$100-tax-on-shipping-emissions">global levy on shipping emissions</a> – at least US$100 per tonne of CO₂-equivalent – to speed up the transition. It’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800923001805?dgcid=coauthor">increasingly clear</a>, however, that “levies exceeding US$100 per tonne may be needed to reduce carbon emissions”. </p>
<p>A growing group of countries, including Ghana, Namibia, South Korea, France and Denmark, are calling for a levy on shipping. Last week at the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-23/carbon-tax-for-ships-backed-by-22-countries-at-paris-summit">22 countries</a> – including Norway – supported a levy. <a href="https://www.tradewindsnews.com/regulation/-it-s-something-we-ll-look-at-us-still-on-the-fence-on-carbon-levy-for-shipping/2-1-1473966">The US didn’t</a>, but flagged it is something it will “look at”. Even so, support for the Pacific <em>equity</em> agenda remains limited. </p>
<p>Shipping costs will go up as the energy transition unfolds. Costs are expected to <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/rmt2022_en.pdf">increase more for the poorest countries</a>, which already often pay higher-than-average shipping charges. For small island developing states like the Marshall Islands, not getting help with these costs could prove disastrous. </p>
<h2>‘We are not drowning. We are fighting’</h2>
<p>A sailing cargo ship to serve the Marshall Islands’ needs is <a href="https://www.shipandoffshore.net/news/shipbuilding/detail/news/keel-laid-for-marshall-islands-supply-ship.html">under construction</a> at the Asia Shipbuilding shipyard in South Korea. The publicly owned Marshall Islands Shipping Corporation will operate the 48-metre vessel. While this ship may make only a small contribution to curbing emissions, the country is working hard to translate the ambitious targets of its climate diplomacy into practice at home.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/wind-powered-cargo-ships-are-the-future-debunking-4-myths-that-stand-in-the-way-of-cutting-emissions-199396">Wind-powered cargo ships are the future: debunking 4 myths that stand in the way of cutting emissions</a>
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<p>Maritime transport could be the first industry to have a global price on emissions. It will raise enormous revenues, leading to questions of how to administer and spend these funds. The World Bank is positioning itself to administer the <a href="https://www.tradewindsnews.com/regulation/world-bank-adds-weight-to-3-7trn-carbon-levy-as-crunch-imo-carbon-talks-near/2-1-1468474">US$3.7 trillion</a> that may be levied over the decades to 2050.</p>
<p>Some may argue the call for an equitable transition is too big an ask. The shipping industry, they whisper in the corridors of the International Maritime Organization, can’t be expected to solve all the world’s problems. They’re right – although no one is suggesting shipping must solve <em>all</em> the world’s problems. </p>
<p>But if the transition isn’t equitable, they’re barely trying to solve any problems. The most ambitious “equitable transition” now on the table will barely fix centuries of colonial exploitation and unfair trade.</p>
<p>As IMO member states gear up for two weeks of negotiations in London, the <a href="https://www.sprep.org/news/world-leaders-told-we-are-not-drowning-we-are-fighting">rallying cry</a> of Pacific youth remains as important as ever: “We are not drowning. We are fighting.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202613/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christiaan De Beukelaer receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the ClimateWorks Foundation. </span></em></p>Rising sea levels threaten the low-lying island nation with the world’s third-largest shipping register. That’s why it’s leading efforts to cut shipping emissions in an equitable way.Christiaan De Beukelaer, Senior Lecturer in Culture & Climate, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2060912023-05-25T00:53:23Z2023-05-25T00:53:23ZWorld leaders are flocking to Papua New Guinea. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528136/original/file-20230524-19144-z6wh86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Papua New Guinea has been in the international spotlight over the past week, hosting a remarkable series of visits by foreign leaders and senior representatives.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India received an <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi9oqi0nI7_AhVAhe4BHfgSB8UQFnoECDwQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tribuneindia.com%2Fnews%2Fnation%2Fwatch-pm-modi-arrives-in-papua-new-guinea-counterpart-james-marape-touches-his-feet-509954&usg=AOvVaw2-jQCMv5xlZ1gMky1WG4XY">enthusiastic welcome</a> on Monday when he arrived in Port Moresby for the first visit by an Indian head of government and to meet with 14 visiting leaders of the Pacific Island Forum countries and territories. PNG Prime Minister James Marape stooped to touch Modi’s feet on arrival, welcoming him as the “leader of the Global South”.</p>
<p>United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken also visited Port Moresby at the start of the week. Blinken was standing in for US President Joe Biden, whose <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjj_5blnI7_AhUmOUQIHYW3BkkQvOMEKAB6BAgUEAE&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheconversation.com%2Fbidens-cancelled-australia-png-trip-was-a-missed-opportunity-but-a-us-debt-crisis-would-hurt-a-lot-more-206079&usg=AOvVaw3tNHTInjm3679qUc6QqQZf">much-anticipated stopover in the country was cancelled</a>, along with his planned subsequent visit to Australia, because of the crisis in the US Congress over the federal debt ceiling. </p>
<p>Blinken signed two important agreements with PNG during his visit: a Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) and an Agreement Concerning Counter Illicit Transnational Maritime Activity Operations. </p>
<p>While in Port Moresby, Blinken also convened the latest in a series of <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-pacific-islands-forum-leaders-dialogue-in-papua-new-guinea/">high-level meetings between the US and Pacific leaders</a>. New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkens and Australian Senator Pat Conroy were also present.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528137/original/file-20230524-28-7n0vl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528137/original/file-20230524-28-7n0vl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528137/original/file-20230524-28-7n0vl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528137/original/file-20230524-28-7n0vl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528137/original/file-20230524-28-7n0vl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528137/original/file-20230524-28-7n0vl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528137/original/file-20230524-28-7n0vl7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (right) was among the leaders to visit PNG recently.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nick Perry/AP/AAP</span></span>
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<p>These two visits were only part of a broader, substantial uptick in external engagement in PNG. In April, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2023/apr/21/british-foreign-ministers-belated-visit-to-the-pacific-a-welcome-counter-to-chinese-influence">visited the country</a>, signing a defence framework agreement. It’s understood Indonesian President Joko Widodo will be there in June. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjx2teYno7_AhWWKEQIHSiHDhQQFnoECA8QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thenational.com.pg%2Fpng-and-france-sign-security-agreement%2F&usg=AOvVaw2B5a8yNOWz6sww09hZYZPF">France has also recently signed</a> a status of forces agreement with PNG. Meanwhile, Australia is negotiating a security treaty that is expected to substantially upgrade its longstanding defence cooperation agreement.</p>
<p>This activity all reflects the increasing importance of the Pacific Island countries in the strategic calculations of the democratic powers amid growing Chinese influence and heightened US-China tensions in the region. This is particularly true of PNG. It’s the largest nation in the region by far, located only a few kilometres from Australia, near the intersection point between Asia and the Pacific. </p>
<hr>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-push-into-png-has-been-surprisingly-slow-and-ineffective-why-has-beijing-found-the-going-so-tough-140073">China's push into PNG has been surprisingly slow and ineffective. Why has Beijing found the going so tough?</a>
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<p>Amid all the colour and movement in Port Moresby this week, at least two important shifts were detectable in the dynamics of the region. </p>
<p>The Modi visit provided the clearest signal yet of India’s intention to join longstanding regional partners in demonstrating to the Pacific the value of prioritising engagement with the democratic world. With its inspirational development narrative, major power status and cultural links to the region, India could play an important role if it follows up with substantive collaboration with the region on climate change, security and sustainable development. </p>
<p>The updated defence arrangements between PNG and the United States, combined with the now-established pattern of senior US-Pacific political dialogue, <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/fiji/united-states-agency-development-usaid-increase-assistance-fiji-and-pacific">recent growth in regional US development support</a> and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/12/us-to-open-two-new-embassies-in-pacific-as-it-jostles-with-china-for-influence-in-region">upgrading of its regional diplomatic network</a>, provide some corroboration that a long-promised American recommitment to the Pacific is finally under way. </p>
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<p>Biden’s planned visit would have sealed this message symbolically – it would have been the first ever to a Pacific Island country. Its cancellation was undoubtedly a setback, but its impact should not be overstated given the practical displays of US commitment.</p>
<p>The text of the DCA will not be officially released until it is formally adopted into US law. However, the <a href="https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-and-papua-new-guinea-sign-new-defense-cooperation-agreement-and-an-agreement-concerning-counter-illicit-transnational-maritime-activity-operations/">signatories have indicated</a> that it updates an old status of forces agreement and aims to strengthen PNG Defence Force capabilities, including in humanitarian assistance and disaster response, and will allow for increased joint military training. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-18/us-png-draft-security-pact-leak-marape-biden-blinken/102353862">draft leaked to the PNG media</a> before the Blinken visit suggested the US might have substantial access to PNG facilities. </p>
<p>The maritime arrangement will allow the US Coast Guard to support surveillance in PNG’s exclusive economic zone and help combat illicit transnational activity through joint sea operations. </p>
<p><a href="https://asiapacificreport.nz/2023/05/23/blinken-daki-sign-controversial-us-png-defence-pact-after-day-of-protests/">Students at several PNG universities protested</a> against what they saw as a lack of transparency about the defence agreement. They expressed fears it compromised the country’s independence by bringing it more firmly into the US sphere of control. Some opposition political figures spoke of the risk of angering China and thus inviting potentially harmful repercussions for PNG’s economic security. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-22/united-states-papua-new-guinea-defence-agreement-blinken-marape-/102378862">Marape and his government stood their ground</a>. Marape argued the agreement had “nothing to do with China” and PNG’s sovereignty remained intact. He also pointed to his government’s “healthy” relationship with Beijing and China’s status as an important trading partner for PNG. He has firmly rejected accusations that the arrangements for visiting US military personnel would violate PNG law.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bidens-cancelled-australia-png-trip-was-a-missed-opportunity-but-a-us-debt-crisis-would-hurt-a-lot-more-206079">Biden's cancelled Australia-PNG trip was a missed opportunity – but a US debt crisis would hurt a lot more</a>
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<p>PNG will nonetheless remain committed to its “friends to all, enemies to none” foreign policy approach. It will continue to leverage its growing array of relationships for its economic development. </p>
<p>In recent years, PNG’s leaders have joined others from the Pacific in expressing impatience with the strategic rivalry between their external partners and alarm at signs of greater militarisation in the region. India’s refusal to align itself firmly with one side or another in the geostrategic contest will be seen by many in the region as a model. </p>
<p>While Chinese investment and development support for PNG actually remains very limited compared to that of Australia, it looms large as a trading partner. Chinese <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/australia-must-demand-answers-on-asian-development-bank-funding-in-papua-new-guinea/">state-owned enterprises are now heavily engaged in PNG</a>, particularly its construction sector. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528150/original/file-20230525-19-q6zck0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528150/original/file-20230525-19-q6zck0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528150/original/file-20230525-19-q6zck0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528150/original/file-20230525-19-q6zck0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=753&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528150/original/file-20230525-19-q6zck0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528150/original/file-20230525-19-q6zck0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528150/original/file-20230525-19-q6zck0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Narendra Modi and James Marape.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP/AAP</span></span>
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<p>It is also clear that Australia’s partners have come to understand they cannot leave it to Australia alone to carry the democratic standard in the Pacific. While <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/modi-in-papua-new-guinea-leader-of-the-global-south-or-quad-partner/">Modi’s decision</a> not to invite Australia and New Zealand to the formal component of the India-Pacific meeting (they were invited to a lunch) raised eyebrows, it may actually have been quite useful. </p>
<p>If the objective is for India to step forward into a substantive and positive regional role, then it probably helps that the symbolism of the India-Pacific meeting was not diluted by “traditional” partners detailing their own familiar cooperative efforts with the region. </p>
<p>If Australia wants others to share the load in the Pacific, it doesn’t follow that it always has to be involved. Australian government strategists likely think this has been a good week in PNG.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Kemish is a former High Commissioner to PNG. He chairs the Kokoda Track Foundation and is the Pacific representative of the Global Partnership for Education, both of which receive funding from The Australian Government. He is affiliated with the ANU National Security College and the Griffith Asia Institute in addition to his adjunct position at the University of Queensland. He advises a range of companies on PNG and the Pacific.</span></em></p>This week has shown Australia’s partners have come to understand they cannot leave it to Australia alone to carry the democratic standard in the Pacific.Ian Kemish AM, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2041242023-04-24T03:12:18Z2023-04-24T03:12:18ZWe want more climate ambition in our foreign policy
– here’s how we can do it<p>Last week, foreign minister Penny Wong laid out the strategic challenges facing Australia in a <a href="https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/speech/national-press-club-address-australian-interests-regional-balance-power">major speech</a>.</p>
<p>Wong described great power competition involving China, America and Russia. She warned of the risk of conflict in our region as China expands its sphere of influence. And she defended the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal with the United States and United Kingdom.</p>
<p>But these are <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137514004_10#:%7E:text=Traditional%20security%20issues%20are%20about,territorial%20integrity%2C%20and%20political%20sovereignty">traditional challenges</a>: nation against nation. Australia needs a similar declaration of the catastrophic security implications of climate change.</p>
<p>While Wong did mention climate change, it was secondary, set in the context of regional outreach.</p>
<p>As the climate crisis worsens, we must do more. Climate change is a threat. Maybe even <em>the</em> threat. We need to use every tool we have to tackle it – including our diplomats. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/aukus-submarine-plan-will-be-the-biggest-defence-scheme-in-australian-history-so-how-will-it-work-199492">AUKUS submarine plan will be the biggest defence scheme in Australian history. So how will it work?</a>
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<h2>Climate change threatens our neighbours – and us</h2>
<p>Australia is a big fish in a big, sparsely populated pond. Our neighbours in the Pacific see sea-level rise and ocean acidification as existential threats. For island nations, this is the big one – well above geostrategic competition. </p>
<p>To Wong’s credit, she <a href="https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/speech/speech-pacific-way-conference-papeete-french-polynesia">understands this</a>. </p>
<p>But climate damage isn’t restricted to island nations. Countries across South and Southeast Asia are also on the front line of warming, as this month’s <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2023/04/19/asia/asia-heat-records-intl-hnk/index.html">record-breaking heatwaves</a> show. </p>
<p>Just this weekend, people in Bangkok were warned not to go outside due to extreme heat. The apparent temperature - what the temperature feels like when combined with humidity – <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/thailand-issues-dont-go-out-warning-as-heat-index-hits-record-54c-12863152">hit a record 54°C</a>.</p>
<p>In our region, governments <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/beijing-survive-great-power-competition">typically avoid</a> close alignment with great powers and blocs. Yet there is no doubt rising temperatures are a key threat to all countries. Australia might have a tougher time remaining a credible partner to the region without a greater climate focus here too. </p>
<h2>Back up words with serious action</h2>
<p>Under Labor, our political and financial climate commitments have certainly increased. </p>
<p>Despite this, our domestic emissions trajectory is still <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/australia/#:%7E:text=The%20%E2%80%9CInsufficient%E2%80%9D%20rating%20indicates%20that,a%20similar%20level%20of%20ambition">not compatible</a> with keeping global warming to 1.5°C this century. </p>
<p>And, as of 2022, Australia was <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/australia/#:%7E:text=The%20%E2%80%9CInsufficient%E2%80%9D%20rating%20indicates%20that,a%20similar%20level%20of%20ambition">paying just a tenth</a> of its fair contribution to the climate fund set up at the 2009 UN conference in Copenhagen.</p>
<p>Contrast this to the vast sum of money we have committed to spending on traditional security threats, especially the nuclear submarine deal which could cost up to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/14/aukus-nuclear-submarines-australia-commits-substantial-funds-into-expanding-us-shipbuilding-capacity">A$368 billion</a>.</p>
<p>Australians want to see more foreign policy ambition on climate front. A United States Studies Centre poll <a href="https://www.ussc.edu.au/analysis/us-midterms-2022-the-stakes-for-australia-and-the-alliance">last year</a> found 75% of us want climate action at the heart of our alliance with America. By contrast, only 52% of survey respondents felt the nuclear subs deal was a good idea. </p>
<h2>What should Australia do?</h2>
<p>It’s hard to imagine Australia – or any other country – financing climate action at a level on par with traditional security threats. </p>
<p>But there are actions we could take to help close the gap. We <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/revisiting-green-climate-fund-pacific">could rejoin</a> and boost funding to the UN-aligned Green Climate Fund, which the previous Australian government left in 2018. </p>
<p>We should also retool our export credit and development finance to invest in <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/australia-can-no-longer-justify-fossil-fuel-funding">climate-friendly assets</a> and stop them funding more fossil fuel extraction. </p>
<p>At the same time, Australia could signal our serious climate commitments by continuing to strengthen domestic policies to ensure the reformed safeguard mechanism <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-will-have-a-carbon-price-for-industry-and-it-may-infuse-greater-climate-action-across-the-economy-202728">actually leads</a> to genuine emission cuts. This would mean closing glaring loopholes, such as allowing major emitters to keep pumping out carbon pollution by purchasing carbon offsets.</p>
<p>As the global energy transition gathers pace, the federal government should do more to support clean energy exports. Australia is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/21/green-energy-is-a-bigger-opportunity-for-australia-than-the-resources-boom-lets-not-waste-it">well placed</a> to provide critical minerals and the green metals, fertiliser and transport fuels that the rest of the world needs. But we must act fast to secure lucrative opportunities –and to tell the world we are open for green business. </p>
<p>The way we communicate progress to the world is critical. For years, we have been seen as laggards and hold-outs, one of the few developed nations resisting the change which must come. It’s time for us to lead.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/6-reasons-2023-could-be-a-very-good-year-for-climate-action-197680">6 reasons 2023 could be a very good year for climate action</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204124/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wesley Morgan is a Senior Researcher with the Climate Council of Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Bowen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Labor has signalled Australia is back on climate change. If so, why aren’t we telling the world?Wesley Morgan, Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith UniversityJames Bowen, Policy Fellow, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2028282023-04-16T20:04:07Z2023-04-16T20:04:07ZUnpapering the cracks: sugar, slavery and the Sydney Morning Herald<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519933/original/file-20230407-28-asozhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South Sea Islander women, Cairns, circa 1895 </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/islander-labourers">National Museum of Australia</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a splash of articles published over the past two weeks, the British <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/cotton-capital">Guardian</a> has acknowledged and apologised for its historical links with slavery. The Scott Trust, owners of the newspaper that became a global news website, outlined how the Guardian’s founders were linked to transatlantic slavery and announced a programme of restorative justice. </p>
<p>John Edward Taylor, the journalist who founded the Manchester Guardian in 1821, profited from partnerships with cotton manufacturers and merchants who imported raw cotton produced by enslaved people in Jamaica and in the Sea Islands along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia.</p>
<p>In Australia, our oldest surviving newspaper has its own historical links to the shameful practice of slave labour.</p>
<p>In 1841, John Fairfax (1804-1877) became the first of five generations of Fairfax family owners of the Sydney Morning Herald, which had been founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520397/original/file-20230412-14-mah6y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520397/original/file-20230412-14-mah6y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520397/original/file-20230412-14-mah6y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520397/original/file-20230412-14-mah6y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=781&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520397/original/file-20230412-14-mah6y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520397/original/file-20230412-14-mah6y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520397/original/file-20230412-14-mah6y7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=982&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">John Fairfax c 1861.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikicommons</span></span>
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<p>The Fairfax family also became major shareholders in Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR). CSR was founded in Sydney in 1855 by Edward Knox, but it descended from the Australasian Sugar Company, established in 1842. The precise date on which the Fairfax family became sugar investors is not known, but the family was <a href="https://www.newsouthbooks.com.au/books/paper-emperors/">certainly involved by 1855</a>, when John Fairfax’s daughter, Emily, married the general manager of CSR. </p>
<p>In the 1870s and 1880s, CSR expanded into milling cane in Queensland and Fiji. It profited from the use of what was effectively slave labour through the abduction and importation of tens of thousands of South Sea Islanders, who were disparagingly called “Kanakas” (a Hawaiian word meaning “man”). </p>
<p>According to the <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/race-discrimination/publications/australian-south-sea-islanders-century-race">Australian Human Rights Commission</a>, between 1863 and 1904, “an estimated 55,000 to 62,500 Islanders were brought to Australia to labour on sugar-cane and cotton farms in Queensland and northern New South Wales”. They were forced to perform backbreaking labour in appalling conditions.</p>
<p>Most came from Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, but they also arrived from more than 70 other Pacific Islands. CSR chartered ships for the express purpose of <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/173160843">“recruiting”</a> labourers from these islands. Men, women and children, some as young as nine, were forced, coerced or tricked into coming to Australia. The practice of kidnapping them was known as “blackbirding” (“blackbird” was another word for slave). </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-a-slave-state-how-blackbirding-in-colonial-australia-created-a-legacy-of-racism-187782">Friday essay: a slave state - how blackbirding in colonial Australia created a legacy of racism</a>
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<p>Although a system of indentured labour was later established, Pacific Islanders were still exploited, denied basic rights, and paid miserable wages. In 1901, two acts of parliament facilitated their mass deportation as part of establishing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-the-white-australia-policy-74084">White Australia Policy</a>. </p>
<p>Although the Sydney Morning Herald was normally a strong supporter of the White Australia Policy, the paper wanted it suspended in the case of the cane fields. In August 1901, it argued there was a special need for “black” labour in the sugar fields of Queensland because the task was not suitable for white men. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/14404004?searchTerm=%22just%20sufficiently%20intelligent%20for%20work%20in%20the%20canefield%22">Sydney Morning Herald</a> wrote: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The sun, so deadly to the white man, is to (the ‘kanaka’) only the source of a genial warmth […] these islanders are (like) the Australian aborigine (sic) […] just sufficiently intelligent for work in the canefield […] cheap, and […] inured to outdoor labour in a tropical climate. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The paper argued that “white men” were still getting “all the work calling for intelligence”. And, if the “kanakas” had to go, then the sugar planter should be given some other form of help such as a duty on sugar. At no stage did the paper declare its owners’ interest in the issue.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520422/original/file-20230412-14-vok1kl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520422/original/file-20230412-14-vok1kl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520422/original/file-20230412-14-vok1kl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520422/original/file-20230412-14-vok1kl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520422/original/file-20230412-14-vok1kl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520422/original/file-20230412-14-vok1kl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520422/original/file-20230412-14-vok1kl.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=568&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Pacific Islanders were brought in to work in the cane fields.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Queensland State Archives</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Like the mining giant Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP), CSR became a powerful monopoly in Australia. Both were helped along by friends in the press, newspaper owners who were heavily invested in companies they were promoting and demanding government assistance for. (Aside from CSR, the Fairfaxes were also shareholders in BHP, as were other newspaper families, including the Symes and the Baillieus). </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-the-white-australia-policy-74084">Australian politics explainer: the White Australia policy</a>
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<p>Although most Pacific Island labourers had been deported from Australia by 1908, CSR continued to prosper off the back of indentured (mostly Indian) labourers in Fiji, where there were severe working conditions and high mortality rates. By 1910, CSR was one of the three largest companies in Australia. </p>
<p>In 1915, the federal government granted CSR protection via an embargo on imported sugar. In 1923, the Queensland state government signed an agreement with CSR that meant the company effectively had a monopoly on sugar production (which lasted until 1989). </p>
<p>By 1930, CSR was the wealthiest company in Australia and the Fairfaxes were among the country’s wealthiest families. The family’s links with CSR were still active in the 1960s. By then, CSR had branched out into industrial chemicals, building materials and, disastrously, asbestos. </p>
<p>The longstanding connection between CSR and the Fairfaxes was not widely known in the mid 20th century, and nor would it have attracted much interest, then, let alone condemnation on the basis of CSR’s history of forced labour. </p>
<p>On the contrary, in a newspaper industry filled with ruthless proprietors, including liars, thugs and crooks, the Fairfaxes had a reputation for being decent, moral and ethical. They were known for being cultured, civically-minded and philanthropic. </p>
<p>The Fairfaxes controlled the Sydney Morning Herald for 149 years, until 1990 when a misguided takeover action mounted by young Warwick Fairfax ended in financial disaster. </p>
<p>Since 2019, the Sydney Morning Herald (along with The Age and The Australian Financial Review) have been owned by the Nine group, a television company that was founded by the Fairfaxes’ nemesis, Frank Packer, a rival newspaper and magazine owner in Sydney. Packer was not known for his philanthropy, nor for holding enlightened attitudes on racial equality. </p>
<p>Racism was often blatantly expressed in newspaper pages, encouraging oppression, discrimination and inhumane treatment to occur, including in the sugar plantations of Queensland. In 1935, the <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17232651?searchTerm=blackbirding">Sydney Morning Herald</a> conceded that “blackbirding” – a practice it had implicitly supported in the 1890s and early 1900s – was actually a “type of slavery”. Now would be a good time for Australia’s oldest newspaper to follow the lead of the Guardian and investigate and acknowledge how its own growth in the 19th and 20th centuries was connected to that slavery. </p>
<p><em>Sally Young is the author of Paper Emperors (UNSW Press, 2019) and its sequel, Media Monsters: The Transformation of Australia’s Newspaper Empires (UNSW Press), which will be out in June. Comment was sought from the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald for this article but no reply was provided at the time of writing.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally Young has received research funding from the Australian Research Council and the State Library of NSW. Between 2013-15, she wrote a monthly column for The Age (previously owned by Fairfax Media, now owned by Nine).</span></em></p>Recently, The Guardian revealed its links to slavery and the cane fields – but less well-known is The Sydney Morning Herald’s links to sugar and the slave trade.Sally Young, Professor of Political Science, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1966552022-12-19T20:56:35Z2022-12-19T20:56:35Z5,700 years of sea-level change in Micronesia hint at humans arriving much earlier than we thought<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501265/original/file-20221215-13-q12vwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=72%2C114%2C3953%2C2565&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mangrove forests on Pohnpei are archives of sea-level change.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Juliet Sefton</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sea levels in Micronesia rose much faster over the past 5,000 years than previously thought, according to our new study <a href="https://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.2210863119">published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</a>.</p>
<p>This sea-level rise is shown by the accumulation of mangrove sediments on the islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae. The finding may change how we think about when people migrated into Remote Oceania, and where they might have voyaged from.</p>
<h2>Formidable voyagers</h2>
<p>While recent decades saw <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abm6536">significant advancements</a> in linguistic, bio-anthropological and archaeological research in the region, the exact pattern and timing of human settlement of Remote Oceania is still debated.</p>
<p>Humans began migration into Remote Oceania – the area of the “open” Pacific Ocean east of New Guinea and the Philippines – some 3,300–3,500 years ago. This migration required formidable long-distance ocean voyaging of the likes never seen before in human history.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-wind-currents-and-geography-tell-us-about-how-people-first-settled-oceania-67410">What wind, currents and geography tell us about how people first settled Oceania</a>
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<p>The region of Micronesia extends many thousands of kilometres and contains thousands of low-lying atolls. Many of these atolls formed roughly 2,500 years ago when the sea level in the region <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2011GL049163">stabilised close to where it is today</a>.</p>
<p>Before that, the sea level might have been up to two metres higher than at present. People could only settle these atolls successfully once sea levels had lowered and stabilised.</p>
<p>But there are also older and higher volcanic islands in Micronesia. Across Remote Oceania, these higher islands were more desirable for settlement than low-lying atolls because they have more reliable freshwater sources, more developed soils for agriculture, and are less vulnerable to storm surges.</p>
<p>We looked at the published ages of settlement across the western part of Remote Oceania and found that high islands tend to show earlier ages of settlement compared to atolls, which is what we would expect. But we don’t see this pattern in Micronesia: the high islands of Pohnpei and Kosrae show settlement ages about 1,000 years later than other similar islands. Why?</p>
<h2>Mangrove clues</h2>
<p>Deep within the mangrove forests of Pohnpei and Kosrae, <a href="https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=53298">previous</a> <a href="https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-abstract/81/7/1895/6917/Paludal-Stratigraphy-of-Truk-Ponape-and-Kusaie">researchers found</a> mangrove sediments up to five metres deep. The only explanation for such deep mangrove sediments is sustained sea-level rise.</p>
<p>Mangroves live at the coast, between low tide and high tide. Therefore, as sea level rises, organic carbon and sediments accumulate beneath the mangrove forests, <a href="https://theconversation.com/rising-seas-allow-coastal-wetlands-to-store-more-carbon-113020">creating deep soils</a>.</p>
<p>We visited the mangroves on Pohnpei and Kosrae and collected sediment cores to find out how old the sediments beneath them were. Our new data, as well as previous works, show that the oldest mangrove sediment is about 5,700 years old.</p>
<p>From this, we calculated that over the past 5,700 years, sea level rose by about four metres. The most likely cause for this rise is that the islands are sinking: the land is going down relative to the sea surface. </p>
<p>In our new study, we suggest this sea-level rise obscured the archaeological record on Pohnpei and Kosrae. Consequently, evidence of earlier settlement – in line with other high islands – may be submerged today.</p>
<p>It is possible that people settled this region of Micronesia much earlier than previously thought, which also raises questions about whether people voyaged from the west or from the south to reach these islands. </p>
<h2>A testament to rising seas</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1503/">UNESCO World Heritage Site of Nan Madol</a> on Pohnpei may also stand as a testament to rising seas. Nan Madol is an impressive array of abandoned megalithic buildings constructed from dark basalt columns and crushed coral.</p>
<p>This site has been dubbed the “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/earliest-direct-evidence-of-monument-building-at-the-archaeological-site-of-nan-madol-pohnpei-micronesia-identified-using-230thu-coral-dating-and-geochemical-sourcing-of-megalithic-architectural-stone/0338E86D312973BA0B32D56A5D297FAF">Venice of the Pacific</a>” because of the characteristic network of waterways around the buildings, resembling canals and islets.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501432/original/file-20221215-20-9gcc7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aerial view of stone constructions topped with lush jungle greenery, with brown canal-like waterways around them" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501432/original/file-20221215-20-9gcc7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501432/original/file-20221215-20-9gcc7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501432/original/file-20221215-20-9gcc7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501432/original/file-20221215-20-9gcc7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501432/original/file-20221215-20-9gcc7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501432/original/file-20221215-20-9gcc7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501432/original/file-20221215-20-9gcc7c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nan Madol is characterised by waterways snaking around ancient megalithic buildings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">KKvintage/Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Our record of sea-level rise from the mangrove sediment shows that <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/earliest-direct-evidence-of-monument-building-at-the-archaeological-site-of-nan-madol-pohnpei-micronesia-identified-using-230thu-coral-dating-and-geochemical-sourcing-of-megalithic-architectural-stone/0338E86D312973BA0B32D56A5D297FAF">when Nan Madol was constructed</a> (around 1180 to 1200 CE), the sea level was nearly one metre lower than it is today.</p>
<p>We suggest that it is unlikely Nan Madol was built with canals and islands in mind. Rather, the canals and islets are a result of sea-level rise over nearly 1,000 years.</p>
<p>Much like island nations today, large stone walls may have been constructed to protect the site from waves that were slowly encroaching higher and higher. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/islands-lost-to-the-waves-how-rising-seas-washed-away-part-of-micronesias-19th-century-history-82981">Islands lost to the waves: how rising seas washed away part of Micronesia's 19th-century history</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Juliet Sefton received funding from the US National Science Foundation (award number OCE-1831382) and was hosted by Tufts University while conducting this research. Juliet now works at Monash University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Kemp receives funding from the US National Science Foundation (award OCE-1831382). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark D. McCoy has received funding from the US National Science Foundation, New Zealand's Marsden Fund, and National Geographic.</span></em></p>A new analysis of deep soil sediments accumulated in the mangroves of Pohnpei and Kosrae islands reveals a potentially different history of human arrival in this oceanic region.Juliet Sefton, Assistant Lecturer, Monash UniversityAndrew Kemp, Associate professor, Tufts UniversityMark D. McCoy, Associate professor, Southern Methodist UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1961182022-12-07T06:35:09Z2022-12-07T06:35:09ZAustralia and US take realist approach to regional influence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499431/original/file-20221207-27-isifob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Reynolds/EPA/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III for the Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) in Washington, DC, on December 6. </p>
<p>While there is notable continuity with last year’s agenda, this year’s AUSMIN clearly bears the Albanese government’s foreign and defence policy imprint – one that has a receptive audience in the Biden administration.</p>
<p>With greater military co-operation, and a priority on climate action, the meeting outlines an agenda to vigorously compete with China for regional influence while advancing the alliance’s long-standing defence and security co-operation objectives.</p>
<h2>A realist shift from 2021</h2>
<p>There is a decidedly realist tone to this year’s AUSMIN, at least from Australia’s perspective. In her remarks at the <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-australian-foreign-minister-penny-wong-and-australian-deputy-prime-minister-and-minister-for-defense-richard-marles-at-a-joint-press-avail/">joint press conference</a>, Wong largely dispensed with talk of shared history and values. Instead, she cast AUSMIN as “the primary forum for us as an alliance […] to make progress on shared interests”.</p>
<p>Ideology has also taken a backseat. The emphasis on “democratic values” and human rights that occupied an entire section in last year’s joint statement has been condensed and accompanied by a more balanced assessment of China. This notes the need for responsible competition, risk reduction, and co-operation on issues of shared interest. </p>
<p>This year’s statement also sharpens the alliance’s focus on Australia’s region. The Pacific Islands are front and centre. There are four detailed paragraphs on how the Australia-US alliance is engaging these countries diplomatically, economically, militarily and in the maritime environment. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-apec-winds-up-summit-season-brought-successes-but-also-revealed-the-extent-of-global-challenges-193934">As APEC winds up, 'summit season' brought successes but also revealed the extent of global challenges</a>
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<p>From Wong’s relentless regional <a href="https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/speech/speech-pacific-islands-forum-secretariat">engagement</a> since taking office, to US President Joe Biden’s hosting of the first <a href="https://www.state.gov/u-s-pacific-islands-country-summit/">US-Pacific Islands Summit</a> in September, and <a href="https://asean.mission.gov.au/aesn/CSP.html#:%7E:text=On%252027%2520October%25202021%252C%2520at,Comprehensive%2520Strategic%2520Partnership%2520(CSP).">both</a> <a href="https://asean.usmission.gov/fact-sheet-president-biden-and-asean-leaders-launch-the-u-s-asean-comprehensive-strategic-partnership/">countries’</a> Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships with ASEAN, Australia and the United States have clearly increased their diplomatic engagements with these two vital subregions. </p>
<p>The focus on maritime security co-operation with the Pacific Islands, in particular, complements similar alliance activities in <a href="https://www.ussc.edu.au/analysis/australia-us-contributions-to-southeast-asian-maritime-security-resilience">South-East Asia</a>, where Australia and the United States should be looking to better integrate their respective lines of effort. </p>
<p>By contrast, there was no reference to the Afghanistan conflict or the threat of terrorism. The statement thus reflects the conclusion of the alliance’s Middle East period.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499456/original/file-20221207-24-2o3fgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499456/original/file-20221207-24-2o3fgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499456/original/file-20221207-24-2o3fgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499456/original/file-20221207-24-2o3fgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499456/original/file-20221207-24-2o3fgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499456/original/file-20221207-24-2o3fgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499456/original/file-20221207-24-2o3fgz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Penny Wong’s efforts in the Pacific have been a focal point of her early months as foreign minister.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Department of Foreign Affairs/AAP</span></span>
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<h2>Incremental steps in defence cooperation</h2>
<p>As we <a href="https://www.ussc.edu.au/analysis/ausmin-2022">predicted</a> last week, no new details of the AUKUS partnership were announced. However, Marles did emphasise the need to “uplift” Australia’s shipbuilding industry to meet the task. An update on export control reform was also not forthcoming, other than mentions of the need for “seamless” bilateral defence industrial co-operation.</p>
<p>On the alliance’s force posture initiatives, the meeting flagged some progress on key issues without making major new announcements. For instance, there will be an increase in the frequency and sophistication of US Air Force rotations through Australia, as heralded last year. By comparison, little was said about mooted US Army and Navy deployments to Australia.</p>
<p>Importantly, the statement identifies measures to strengthen the resilience and sustainability of combined Australia-US operations. This includes targeted logistics exercises and co-development of “agile logistics” capabilities, as well as efforts to enhance Australia’s ability to maintain and repair munitions in-country. This will be done by streamlining US technology transfer and information-sharing arrangements – measures that Marles <a href="https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/marless-focus-for-the-us-australia-alliance-integrate-integrate-integrate/">emphasised</a> during the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czfq1bYCaCI">joint press conference</a>. </p>
<p>Making good on these commitments will be critical to sustaining a higher tempo of joint operations in the region.</p>
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<h2>Bringing Japan on board</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most eye-catching development is the invitation to Japan to “increase its participation in [US-Australia] Force Posture Initiatives”. Though short on specifics, this development underscores how the Australia-US alliance has become a <a href="https://www.9dashline.com/article/advancing-collective-defence-through-the-australia-us-alliance?rq=Tom%2520Corben">mechanism</a> for “advancing a strategy of collective defence among other Indo-Pacific allies”. </p>
<p>Future years could see larger and more frequent deployments of Japan Self-Defence Forces in more sophisticated bilateral and trilateral joint exercises. These forces would include <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Indo-Pacific/Japan-sends-fighter-jets-to-Philippines-for-1st-time-in-air-force-exchange">fighter aircraft</a> and <a href="https://www.mod.go.jp/en/article/2021/08/e46ef03882f39c7d040c42d5213d446317636b61.html">marines</a> rotating through Australian facilities. </p>
<p>Indeed, this announcement is consistent with the trajectory of the Australia-Japan relationship set by the recently updated <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/countries/japan/australia-japan-joint-declaration-security-cooperation">Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation</a>. It makes the Australia-Japan 2+2 ministerial talks scheduled for Friday in Tokyo all the more interesting. Both countries are looking to take their defence co-operation, including with the United States, to the <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/U.S.-will-listen-more-to-Australia-and-Japan-if-they-speak-together">next level</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1600266262894227456"}"></div></p>
<h2>Climate co-operation to the fore</h2>
<p>Wong emphasised climate co-operation as a primary area of joint collaboration. This is not entirely novel, as “climate, clean energy and the environment” received significant attention at AUSMIN <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/united-states-of-america/ausmin/joint-statement-australia-us-ministerial-consultations-ausmin-2021">2021</a>. There was also a brief mention in <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/united-states-of-america/ausmin/Pages/joint-statement-ausmin-2015#:%7E:text=Joint%2520Statement%2520AUSMIN%25202015%2520October%252013%252C%25202015%2520Minister,Boston%2520for%2520the%2520Australia-United%2520States%2520Ministerial%2520%2528AUSMIN%2529%2520consultations.">2015</a>. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, the framing of climate collaboration as one of three specific areas of focus (the others being engagement with South-East Asia and the Pacific Islands) reaffirms Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s and Biden’s November statement of climate partnership as a “new pillar” of the alliance.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499465/original/file-20221207-4529-gs1utb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499465/original/file-20221207-4529-gs1utb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499465/original/file-20221207-4529-gs1utb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499465/original/file-20221207-4529-gs1utb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499465/original/file-20221207-4529-gs1utb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499465/original/file-20221207-4529-gs1utb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499465/original/file-20221207-4529-gs1utb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The AUSMIN meeting brought climate co-operation to the fore, consolidating the discussions between Anthony Albanese and Joe Biden in November.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mick Tsikas/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is likely to be well received by <a href="https://www.ussc.edu.au/analysis/an-incomplete-project-australians-views-of-the-us-alliance">domestic and regional audiences</a> alike. The <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/joint-statement-australia-us-ministerial-consultations-ausmin-2022">2022</a> joint statement confirms the elevation of climate, with this issue addressed in second as opposed to fourth place in 2021. </p>
<p>Climate efforts were also prioritised in relation to regional engagement with South-East Asia and particularly the Pacific Islands. This is a marked elevation from 2021, when climate was mentioned in less stark terms within these contexts. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-and-the-us-are-firm-friends-on-defence-now-lets-turn-that-into-world-beating-climate-action-195905">Australia and the US are firm friends on defence – now let's turn that into world-beating climate action</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Finally, the visuals of this year’s AUSMIN were also notable. Watching the first Asian-Australian foreign minister standing alongside the first African-American secretary of defense was a poignant reminder of the power of identity in shaping bilateral narratives. Wong has often said that “<a href="https://www.foreignminister.gov.au/minister/penny-wong/speech/whitlam-oration">foreign policy starts with who we are</a>”, and it was good to see this year’s AUSMIN reflect the diversity of our multicultural societies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196118/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The USSC Foreign and Defence Policy Program receives funding from the Australian Department of Defence, Northrup Grumman, and Thales. Peter K. Lee also receives funding from the Korea Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>The USSC Foreign and Defence Policy Program receives funding from the Australian Department of Defence, Northrup Grumman, and Thales. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre receives funding from the Department of Defence, Northrop Grumman Australia, and Thales Australia.</span></em></p>This year’s talks had a noticeable shift of tone, reflecting the new Australian government. They include an emphasis on climate action and an invitation to Japan.Peter K. Lee, Research Fellow, Foreign Policy and Defence Program, USSC, University of SydneySophie Mayo, Research Associate, Foreign Policy and Defence, United States Studies Centre, University of SydneyThomas Corben, Research Fellow, Foreign Policy and Defence, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1952812022-11-30T19:09:41Z2022-11-30T19:09:41Z‘Earth’s empty quarter’: many Pacific nations now have falling populations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498171/original/file-20221130-14-kswgwv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=104%2C0%2C5637%2C2940&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1989, distinguished Australian geographer Gerard Ward wrote that the Pacific was emptying out. As people on smaller islands left to seek opportunity elsewhere, the region risked becoming <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/635065">Earth’s empty quarter</a>. He wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Perhaps 100 years hence, almost all of the descendants of today’s Polynesian or Micronesian islanders will live in Auckland, Sydney, San Francisco and Salt Lake City. Occasionally they may recall that their ancestors once lived on tiny Pacific islands … set in an empty ocean.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ward’s prediction <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23706864">attracted criticism</a> for its doomsday tone. But was he right? </p>
<p>For some countries, he may have been spot on. Populations are now falling in many of the smallest states. On tiny Pitcairn Island, with a <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20221118-uk-s-remote-pitcairn-islanders-see-no-brexit-bounty">population of fewer than 50</a>, it is well over a decade since the last child was born. </p>
<p>But it’s not the same everywhere in the Pacific – while <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronesia">Micronesia</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynesia">Polynesia</a> are broadly shrinking, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanesia">Melanesian</a> nations are booming.</p>
<p>Migration isn’t new, of course. What will be new is the prospect of so many people moving that small nations effectively cease to exist. Climate change will only intensify these shifts. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498168/original/file-20221130-24-u0xn2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Pitcairn sign" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498168/original/file-20221130-24-u0xn2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498168/original/file-20221130-24-u0xn2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498168/original/file-20221130-24-u0xn2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498168/original/file-20221130-24-u0xn2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498168/original/file-20221130-24-u0xn2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=936&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498168/original/file-20221130-24-u0xn2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=936&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498168/original/file-20221130-24-u0xn2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=936&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pitcairn Island is a long way from anywhere – and the population is not getting any larger.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who’s leaving – and where are they going?</h2>
<p>Just in the past six months, populations have declined in two US territories, American Samoa and the Marshall Islands as well as the French overseas collectivity of New Caledonia. </p>
<p>American Samoa’s population has fallen from around 56,000 in 2010 to less than 50,000 in 2020, according to US census data. This is due in part to younger people moving to the US mainland and having children there. Just 6% of the territory’s population were born in the United States, indicating very few people return once they move. </p>
<p>Populations are falling even faster in the Marshall Islands to the north, down 20% between 2011 and 2021 to around 42,000 people. Where are people going? Predominantly to the US, where Marshall Islanders are scattered from Hawaii to Arkansas. </p>
<p>There are good reasons for people to move. The Marshall Islands’ 2021 census found <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/477097/preliminary-census-results-in-the-marshall-islands-show-poverty-worry">almost half</a> of all families on the islands worried about not having enough to eat. Islanders are moving to escape poverty. </p>
<p>New Caledonia’s population has <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/475135/new-caledonia-population-keeps-shrinking">now fallen</a> below 270,000. Birth rates have fallen, while COVID drove death rates up. When people migrate, they tend to move to France. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498172/original/file-20221130-18-qnisxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="pago pago" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498172/original/file-20221130-18-qnisxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498172/original/file-20221130-18-qnisxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498172/original/file-20221130-18-qnisxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498172/original/file-20221130-18-qnisxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498172/original/file-20221130-18-qnisxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498172/original/file-20221130-18-qnisxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498172/original/file-20221130-18-qnisxd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Places like Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, are farewelling young people overseas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Is the same trend visible elsewhere?</h2>
<p>Longer-term declines are visible in the neighbouring <a href="https://countrymeters.info/en/Federated_States_of_Micronesia">Federated States of Micronesia</a> and <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/palau-population/">Palau</a>, although not at such dramatic rates. Following New Caledonia into decline are the Pacific’s other two French territories, French Polynesia, where the population has <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/french-polynesia-population/">plateaued</a>, while the population at the much smaller territory known as Wallis and Futuna is <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/wallis-and-futuna-islands-population/">steadily declining</a>. </p>
<p>For other states, the major migration has already happened. More than 90% of all Niue residents <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/niue/niue-country-brief">live in New Zealand</a>, where they hold citizenship, leaving only around 1,600 living on the islands as of 2017. For the people of this isolated, rocky island, migration has become normal, expected and even necessary. </p>
<p>Tokelau, too, has the <a href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/aid-and-development/our-aid-partnerships-in-the-pacific/tokelau/about-tokelau/#:%7E:text=Tokelau%20is%20located%20about%20500km,Tokelauans%20living%20in%20New%20Zealand.">lion’s share</a> of its people on New Zealand – 7,000, compared with just 1,500 remaining on the islands. It’s <a href="https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/australia-and-pacific/cook-islands/new-zealand-high-commission-to-the-cook-islands/about-cook-islands/#:%7E:text=Cook%20Islands%20is%20part%20of,M%C4%81ori%20live%20in%20New%20Zealand.">the same</a> for the larger Cook Islands, with more than 60,000 in New Zealand and fewer than 15,000 people on the islands. The populations on all three of these island nations are holding relatively steady. </p>
<p>What about the larger states? Long sandwiched between smaller Polynesian and larger Melanesian states, Fiji’s population growth has now slowed dramatically. Many people are moving internally, leaving smaller islands further out in favour of the <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com/rural-to-urban-shift-leads-to-rise-in-urban-poverty/">two main islands</a>.</p>
<p>Both Tonga and Samoa are <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/pacific-islands-and-new-zealand/page-2">steadily losing people</a>, many to New Zealand. These nations still have the majority of their population resident on their islands, for now. </p>
<p>Why do people leave even larger island states, where there are better economic opportunities? </p>
<p>One answer is remittances: the money migrants working overseas send back home to support their families. Remittances were particularly important during COVID lockdown periods when tourism collapsed – and even more so for Tonga after this year’s giant eruption of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-volcanic-eruption-in-tonga-was-so-violent-and-what-to-expect-next-175035">undersea volcano</a>. On the world stage, Tonga and Samoa are among the top remittance-receiving countries. The World Bank estimates <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?locations=TO-WS">remittance flows</a> are equivalent to 40% of Tonga’s GDP and 25% of Samoa’s. </p>
<h2>What about climate change?</h2>
<p>Rising sea levels are affecting the lowest-lying nations first, such as the atoll states of Kiribati and Tuvalu, which are only a few metres above sea level. </p>
<p>Already, storm surges have forced people to move to higher ground, while flooding from the sea has made some farmland <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/may/16/one-day-disappear-tuvalu-sinking-islands-rising-seas-climate-change">too salty</a> for crops. That’s why Kiribati’s former president, Anote Tong, <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2016/06/21/anote-tong-migration-is-the-brutal-reality-of-climate-change/">has sought</a> “migration with dignity” – essentially, wholesale relocation of all Kiribati people.</p>
<p>You might expect the populations of these threatened nations to be dropping, but they’ve <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/kiribati-population/">actually grown</a> in recent years. Despite this, people are moving wherever possible – one by one, household by household. A third of all Tuvaluans now live in Auckland.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498169/original/file-20221130-24-a01yyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="tuvalu" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498169/original/file-20221130-24-a01yyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498169/original/file-20221130-24-a01yyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498169/original/file-20221130-24-a01yyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498169/original/file-20221130-24-a01yyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498169/original/file-20221130-24-a01yyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498169/original/file-20221130-24-a01yyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498169/original/file-20221130-24-a01yyq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There’s not much between Tuvalu and the sea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The exception: Melanesia</h2>
<p>Only the independent Melanesian states of Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea are resisting this trend. Here, populations are still growing and few people are leaving permanently. </p>
<p>In part, that’s because their former colonisers aren’t interested in encouraging migration. Australia, which governed Papua New Guinea until 1975, has shown interest mainly in bringing migrants to Australia temporarily, to help with the farm labour shortage. </p>
<p>That means the largest islands in the Pacific – and the islands closest to Australia – will continue to grow, with the attendant pressure on resources.</p>
<h2>What does mass emigration do to a country?</h2>
<p>Losing skills, farmers and the next generation overseas is <a href="https://theconversation.com/underpaid-at-home-vulnerable-abroad-how-seasonal-job-schemes-are-draining-pacific-nations-of-vital-workers-194810">not conducive</a> to national development. Remittances are not the same as actual people. Children born overseas often have little interest in “returning” to a home they’ve never seen. </p>
<p>Remarkably, this is happening when the Pacific has become geopolitically crucial, as China and the US vie for influence over a massive and valuable space.</p>
<p>Gerard Ward foresaw what these alarming trends would mean for the blue continent. Even as the world’s population has just shot past eight billion, one part of the world is contracting.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/underpaid-at-home-vulnerable-abroad-how-seasonal-job-schemes-are-draining-pacific-nations-of-vital-workers-194810">Underpaid at home, vulnerable abroad: how seasonal job schemes are draining Pacific nations of vital workers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195281/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Connell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
</span></em></p>Drawn by jobs - or escaping climate change - many people from the Pacific are moving elsewhere.John Connell, Professor of Human Geography, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1947282022-11-16T23:07:51Z2022-11-16T23:07:51ZAn entire Pacific country will upload itself to the metaverse. It’s a desperate plan – with a hidden message<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495556/original/file-20221116-21-2v3psz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=100%2C100%2C5505%2C3891&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What's the message between the lines of Tuvalu's proposal to move to the metaverse?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/message-in-the-bottle">Scott Van Hoy/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://artlibre.org/licence/lal/en">FAL</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Pacific nation of Tuvalu is planning to create a version of itself in the metaverse, as a response to the existential threat of rising sea levels. Tuvalu’s minister for justice, communication and foreign affairs, Simon Kofe, made the announcement via a chilling digital address to leaders at COP27. </p>
<p>He said the plan, which accounts for the “worst case scenario”, involves creating a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/digital-twin-89034">digital twin</a> of Tuvalu in the metaverse in order to replicate its beautiful islands and preserve its rich culture:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The tragedy of this outcome cannot be overstated […] Tuvalu could be the first country in the world to exist solely in cyberspace – but if global warming continues unchecked, it won’t be the last.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sJIlrAdky4Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Tuvalu turns to metaverse as rising seas threaten existence, 16 Nov 2022.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The idea is that the metaverse might allow Tuvalu to “fully function as a sovereign state” as its people are forced to live somewhere else. </p>
<p>There are two stories here. One is of a small island nation in the Pacific facing an existential threat and looking to preserve its nationhood through technology. </p>
<p>The other is that by far the preferred future for Tuvalu would be to avoid the worst effects of climate change and preserve itself as a terrestrial nation. In which case, this may be its way of getting the world’s attention. </p>
<h2>What is a metaverse nation?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-metaverse-and-what-can-we-do-there-179200">metaverse</a> represents a burgeoning future in which augmented and virtual reality become part of everyday living. There are many visions of what the metaverse might look like, with the most well-known coming from Meta (previously Facebook) CEO Mark Zuckerberg.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-metaverse-and-what-can-we-do-there-179200">What is the metaverse, and what can we do there?</a>
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<p>What most of these visions have in common is the idea that the metaverse is about interoperable and immersive 3D worlds. A persistent avatar moves from one virtual world to another, as easily as moving from one room to another in the physical world.</p>
<p>The aim is to obscure the human ability to distinguish between the real and the virtual, for <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-the-metaverse-a-high-tech-plan-to-facebookify-the-world-165326">better or for worse</a>.</p>
<p>Kofe implies three aspects of Tuvalu’s nationhood could be recreated in the metaverse:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>territory – the recreation of the natural beauty of Tuvalu, which could be interacted with in different ways</p></li>
<li><p>culture – the ability for Tuvaluan people to interact with one another in ways that preserve their shared language, norms and customs, wherever they may be</p></li>
<li><p>sovereignty – if there were to be a loss of terrestrial land over which the government of Tuvalu has sovereignty (a tragedy beyond imagining, but which they have begun to imagine) then could they have sovereignty over virtual land instead?</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Could it be done?</h2>
<p>In the case that Tuvalu’s proposal is, in fact, a literal one and not just symbolic of the dangers of climate change, what might it look like?</p>
<p>Technologically, it’s already easy enough to create beautiful, immersive and richly rendered recreations of Tuvalu’s territory. Moreover, thousands of different online communities and 3D worlds (such as <a href="https://secondlife.com/">Second Life</a>) demonstrate it’s possible to have entirely virtual interactive spaces that can maintain their own culture.</p>
<p>The idea of combining these technological capabilities with features of governance for a “<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-digital-twins-a-pair-of-computer-modeling-experts-explain-181829">digital twin</a>” of Tuvalu is feasible. </p>
<p>There have been prior experiments of governments taking location-based functions and creating virtual analogues of them. For example, Estonia’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Residency_of_Estonia">e-residency</a> is an online-only form of residency non-Estonians can obtain to access services such as company registration. Another example is countries setting up virtual embassies on the <a href="https://www.learntechlib.org/p/178165/">online platform Second Life</a>.</p>
<p>Yet there are significant technological and social challenges in bringing together and digitising the elements that define an entire nation. </p>
<p>Tuvalu has only about 12,000 citizens, but having even this many people interact in real time in an immersive virtual world is a technical challenge. There are <a href="https://www.matthewball.vc/all/networkingmetaverse">issues of bandwidth</a>, computing power, and the fact that many users have an aversion to headsets or suffer nausea.</p>
<p>Nobody has yet demonstrated that nation-states can be successfully translated to the virtual world. Even if they could be, others argue the digital world makes <a href="http://thestack.org/">nation-states redundant</a>.</p>
<p>Tuvalu’s proposal to create its digital twin in the metaverse is a message in a bottle – a desperate response to a tragic situation. Yet there is a coded message here too, for others who might consider retreat to the virtual as a response to loss from climate change.</p>
<h2>The metaverse is no refuge</h2>
<p>The metaverse is built on the physical infrastructure of servers, data centres, network routers, devices and head-mounted displays. All of this tech has a hidden carbon footprint and requires physical maintenance and energy. <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-internet-consumes-extraordinary-amounts-of-energy-heres-how-we-can-make-it-more-sustainable-160639">Research</a> published in Nature predicts the internet will consume about 20% of the world’s electricity by 2025. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-internet-consumes-extraordinary-amounts-of-energy-heres-how-we-can-make-it-more-sustainable-160639">The internet consumes extraordinary amounts of energy. Here's how we can make it more sustainable</a>
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<p>The idea of the <em>metaverse nation</em> as a response to climate change is exactly the kind of thinking that got us here. The language that gets adopted around new technologies – such as “cloud computing”, “virtual reality” and “metaverse” – comes across as both clean and green. </p>
<p>Such terms are laden with “<a href="https://www.publicaffairsbooks.com/titles/evgeny-morozov/to-save-everything-click-here/9781610393706/">technological solutionism</a>” and “<a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/203186/">greenwashing</a>”. They hide the fact that technological responses to climate change often <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800905001084?via%3Dihub">exacerbate the problem</a> due to how energy and resource intensive they are.</p>
<h2>So where does that leave Tuvalu?</h2>
<p>Kofe is well aware the metaverse is not an answer to Tuvalu’s problems. He explicitly states we need to focus on reducing the impacts of climate change through initiatives such as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/08/tuvalu-first-to-call-for-fossil-fuel-non-proliferation-treaty-at-cop27">fossil-fuel non-proliferation treaty</a>. </p>
<p>His video about Tuvalu moving to the metaverse is hugely successful as a provocation. It got worldwide press – just like his <a href="https://youtu.be/jBBsv0QyscE">moving plea</a> during COP26 while standing knee-deep in rising water.</p>
<p>Yet Kofe suggests:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Without a global conscience and a global commitment to our shared wellbeing we may find the rest of the world joining us online as their lands disappear.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is dangerous to believe, even implicitly, that moving to the metaverse is a viable response to climate change. The metaverse can certainly assist in keeping heritage and culture alive <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/131407/">as a virtual museum</a> and digital community. But it seems unlikely to work as an ersatz nation-state. </p>
<p>And, either way, it certainly won’t work without all of the land, infrastructure and energy that keeps the internet functioning.</p>
<p>It would be far better for us to direct international attention towards Tuvalu’s other initiatives described in the <a href="https://devpolicy.org/tuvalu-preparing-for-climate-change-in-the-worst-case-scenario-20211110/">same report</a>: </p>
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<p>The project’s first initiative promotes diplomacy based on Tuvaluan values of olaga fakafenua (communal living systems), kaitasi (shared responsibility) and fale-pili (being a good neighbour), in the hope that these values will motivate other nations to understand their shared responsibility to address climate change and sea level rise to achieve global wellbeing.</p>
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<p>The message in a bottle being sent out by Tuvalu is not really about the possibilities of metaverse nations at all. The message is clear: to support communal living systems, to take shared responsibility and to be a good neighbour.</p>
<p>The first of these can’t translate into the virtual world. The second requires us to <a href="https://theconversation.com/ending-the-climate-crisis-has-one-simple-solution-stop-using-fossil-fuels-194489">consume less</a>, and the third requires us to care.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/ending-the-climate-crisis-has-one-simple-solution-stop-using-fossil-fuels-194489">Ending the climate crisis has one simple solution: Stop using fossil fuels</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194728/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Kelly receives research funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcus Foth receives research funding from the Australian Research Council and the Future Food CRC. He is a member of the Queensland Greens.</span></em></p>Rising sea levels due to climate change are already having severe impacts on the nation of Tuvalu. It proposes to build a digital replica of itself in the metaverse. Could it be done?Nick Kelly, Senior Lecturer in Interaction Design, Queensland University of TechnologyMarcus Foth, Professor of Urban Informatics, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1920162022-11-07T23:59:35Z2022-11-07T23:59:35Z‘Teaching our children from books, not the sea’: how climate change is eroding human rights in Vanuatu<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493727/original/file-20221107-17-jh6oj9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=556%2C0%2C4596%2C3437&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Himbrechts/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There’s a lot at stake over the next fortnight as nations gather at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt. But the stakes are perhaps highest for the Pacific islands and their people.</p>
<p>A report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last year said global warming above 1.5°C would be “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/10/ipcc-report-shows-possible-loss-of-entire-countries-within-the-century">catastrophic</a>” for Pacific island nations. Sea-level rise could lead to the loss of entire Pacific countries this century.</p>
<p>Such damage is a fundamental threat to the human rights of Pacific populations who, as one <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17524032.2014.932818">research paper</a> reminds us, are not merely “victims” of climate change, but “real people with dignity and dreams for the future”.</p>
<p>We have been conducting research for the Vanuatu government into how climate change is affecting the human rights of the nation’s highly exposed population. We’ve heard stories of loss and resilience from those whose lives and traditions are being ripped apart by this global catastrophe.</p>
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<img alt="A woman washes pots in the sea" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493731/original/file-20221107-13-xkreoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493731/original/file-20221107-13-xkreoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493731/original/file-20221107-13-xkreoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493731/original/file-20221107-13-xkreoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493731/original/file-20221107-13-xkreoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493731/original/file-20221107-13-xkreoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493731/original/file-20221107-13-xkreoc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Climate change is a fundamental threat to the human rights of people in Vanuatu.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>Facing climate change on an island nation</h2>
<p>Vanuatu has a <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=VU">population</a> of about 315,000 people, who live across <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Vanuatu">13 principal</a> and many smaller islands.</p>
<p>Like other Pacific island nations, Vanuatu is highly exposed to climate change effects such as sea-level rise, coral bleaching and extreme tropical cyclones. In fact, the sea level around Vanuatu has risen by around 6mm per year since 1993, a rate nearly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/friendship-is-the-best-way-to-counter-china-in-the-pacific/2022/07/19/858e3ba4-07bb-11ed-80b6-43f2bfcc6662_story.html">twice the global average</a></p>
<p>Vanuatu is seeking an “advisory opinion” from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to clarify the rights and obligations of states under international law in relation to harms from climate change. A majority of UN member states must agree to this opinion being provided. If Vanuatu succeeds, it could have extensive legal implications at a global, regional and national level.</p>
<p>We undertook research for the Vanuatu government as part of this legal push. It involved a nation-wide survey to explore how locals in Vanuatu experience climate change and how it impinges on their human rights.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-a-chain-of-tiny-pacific-islands-wants-an-international-court-opinion-on-responsibility-for-the-climate-crisis-193595">Why a chain of tiny Pacific islands wants an international court opinion on responsibility for the climate crisis</a>
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<img alt="A boy holds a dog and looks at piles of rubbish" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493729/original/file-20221107-3451-pveimj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493729/original/file-20221107-3451-pveimj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493729/original/file-20221107-3451-pveimj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493729/original/file-20221107-3451-pveimj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493729/original/file-20221107-3451-pveimj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493729/original/file-20221107-3451-pveimj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493729/original/file-20221107-3451-pveimj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A boy and his dog survey the chaos after Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu in 2015. The island nation is in line for more extreme weather under climate change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">World Animal Protection/NICKY KAUATONGA</span></span>
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<h2>‘This is a cultural right’</h2>
<p>The study involved an online survey administered in Vanuatu’s national language, Bislama, as well as English and French. Some 118 people completed the survey between June and October this year. The results have been finalised and <a href="https://www.vanuatuicj.com/">submitted to</a> the Vanuatu government for use at COP27.</p>
<p>Participants ranged in age from 18 to 76. They told of witnessing general climate change impacts such as intense cyclones, droughts, flooding and coastal inundation. </p>
<p>They also told of decimation and loss of Indigenous knowledge around weather, seasons and medicines, as well as physical damage to traditional crops.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Yams for sale at a market in Vanuatu" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493732/original/file-20221107-25-630wha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493732/original/file-20221107-25-630wha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493732/original/file-20221107-25-630wha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493732/original/file-20221107-25-630wha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493732/original/file-20221107-25-630wha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493732/original/file-20221107-25-630wha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493732/original/file-20221107-25-630wha.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Many Vanuatu traditions centre around the yam harvest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>One crop of particular concern was the yam – a starchy, edible root central to the identity of many people native to Vanuatu.</p>
<p>Locals mark the yam harvest with rituals and ceremonies. However, climate change is disrupting these cultural rhythms. As one participant told us, altered weather patterns had led to failed germination, a higher prevalence of disease and root rot, and lower yields:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>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. This is a cultural right that can never be recovered and re-built if we lose it due to climate change. </p>
<p>No financial means can recover those non-economic losses, which are our heritage and dignity. And climate change is taking these rights away from us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Traditional medicines are similarly being lost at an alarming rate and are impinging on the health and wellbeing of local people.</p>
<p>One participant told how children learnt from an early age to be self-sufficient – growing their own food, fishing on the reef and collecting crabs after school. The participant went on:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Nowadays because the coral reefs are dying, the fish have gone […] Our crops are producing less yield because of weather changes. Root crops are rotting before they become ready to harvest because of the unusually large amounts of rain that we experience. </p>
<p>We have had to spend more money on food now than we ever did in the past. In the future I do not expect for there to be anything left in the waters or in the bush. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The participant expressed fears that knowledge passed on by grandparents to younger generations about natural resource management would “die with my generation”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am concerned about the impacts of climate change on our environment and on our culture. </p>
<p>[…] the love and respect we had towards nature will fade away into nothing and the deep cultural ties to our waters will be lost when we will have to start teaching our children their heritage from books and not from taking them out to sea on a canoe and pointing out fish like it was done for us.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="two women in traditional dress hold babies" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493728/original/file-20221107-15-qgk81d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493728/original/file-20221107-15-qgk81d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493728/original/file-20221107-15-qgk81d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493728/original/file-20221107-15-qgk81d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493728/original/file-20221107-15-qgk81d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493728/original/file-20221107-15-qgk81d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493728/original/file-20221107-15-qgk81d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Traditional knowledge in Vanuatu is handed down between generations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Margaret Scheikowski/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>What this means for COP27</h2>
<p>The stories we gathered during our research make one thing clear: climate change is real, it’s impinging on the human rights of people in Vanuatu, and will continue to do so in future.</p>
<p>Among the big issues to be discussed at this year’s COP27 conference is “loss and damage” compensation. This refers to the money that richer nations should pay to developing nations for the economic, socio-cultural, environmental and physical costs brought by climate change.</p>
<p>As our research shows, those costs are already being borne. Developed nations have a moral obligation to make sure people in developing countries, who’ve contributed so little to climate change, do not continue to suffer in a warming world. That includes providing access to appropriate remedies and ways to adapt.</p>
<p><em>The authors would like to acknowledge and thank Stephanie Stephens, George Koran and Willy Missack from the Vanuatu Climate Action Network for their support and collaboration on this research.</em></p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/this-is-what-australia-needs-to-bring-to-egypt-for-cop27-193531">This is what Australia needs to bring to Egypt for COP27</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192016/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen E McNamara receives funding from the Australian Research Council. The research upon which this article was based was funded by the Vanuatu government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel works for the 'International Centre for Environmental Management'.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross is affiliated with the Greens Party. Ross Westoby is in a relationship with Karen E McNamara.</span></em></p>The sea level around Vanuatu is rising at a rate nearly twice the global average. New research tells a story of both loss and resilience.Karen E McNamara, Associate Professor, The University of QueenslandRachel Clissold, Researcher, The University of QueenslandRoss Westoby, Research Fellow, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1918502022-10-05T19:04:19Z2022-10-05T19:04:19ZSolomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare is coming to Australia. What should we expect from his visit?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488201/original/file-20221005-12-7ua1da.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Schiefelbein/AP/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare will arrive in Australia on October 6 for talks with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. What should we expect from his visit?</p>
<p>Sogavare has had a tumultuous year, particularly as far as relations with Australia are concerned: in April, he signed a controversial security pact with China, the latter of which has been expanding its reach in the Pacific. It was telling that one of Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s first overseas missions after Labor won the May election was to the Pacific, <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-solomon-islands-wong-takes-first-tentative-steps-in-repairing-a-strained-relationship-185200">including Solomon Islands</a>.</p>
<p>More recently, Sogavare <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26zPjBo5X-o">blasted</a> Canberra for making an “assault on our parliamentary democracy” and directly interfering in domestic affairs after the Australian government offered to help fund the upcoming election, to avoid postponing them to accommodate the 2023 Pacific Games.</p>
<p>Yet only a few weeks earlier, Sogavare also referred to Australia as the country’s “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/14/solomon-islands-pm-rules-out-chinese-military-base-china-australia-security-partner-manasseh-sogavare">security partner of choice</a>” and gave our PM a warm hug when they met. He even accepted the election funds after securing a one year extension to his term in office. Support the 2023 Pacific Games – one of his top priorities – was banked too.</p>
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<p>Sogavare is no stranger to political leadership — he’s been the prime minister of Solomon Islands four times since the mid-1990s. It’s a difficult job, and political allegiances in the island nation are fluid. Sogavare has benefitted from generous Chinese aid and resource revenue. His Western friends worry the increasing Chinese investment could give China strategic advantage and destabilise the delicate geopolitical balance in the region.</p>
<p>Of course, Honiara still benefits from <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/solomon-islands/solomon-islands-country-brief#:%7E:text=Australia%20is%20Solomon%20Islands'%20main,growth%20and%20enhancing%20human%20development.">generous aid</a> from Australia and other donors. Australian assistance exceeds $150 million each year, in addition to defence cooperation. Sogavare has no intention of giving up diverse development investments; if he can, he’ll maximise all.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-solomon-islands-wong-takes-first-tentative-steps-in-repairing-a-strained-relationship-185200">In the Solomon Islands, Wong takes first tentative steps in repairing a strained relationship</a>
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<p>He’s a fiery orator and adept political operator. He regularly appeals to national pride, but when support wavers he can be assertive, even authoritarian. He switched the country’s recognition to China without waiting for <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/programmes/datelinepacific/audio/2018714271/sols-foreign-committee-chair-says-china-switch-regrettable">advice from the Foreign Relations Committee</a>, limited <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/03/outrage-as-solomon-islands-government-orders-vetting-of-stories-on-national-broadcaster">media scrutiny of his government</a>, and withheld <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/distribution-chinese-funds-by-solomon-islands-pm-raises-questions-2022-08-25/">finances</a> from unsupportive MPs.</p>
<p>A nationalist leader, Sogavare is wary of Australia and its motives. He <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/sogavare-has-dug-himself-into-a-hole-with-chinasolomon-islands-security-deal/video/016bf4a715825788019da754df512220">fears</a> Australia wants to control, not partner, with him. Feeling the political heat from the Australian government after his switch of recognition from Taiwan to China, he <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZeKqSZUNSs">lashed out at Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVy68Hnh6tc">others</a> for undermining his government and failing to recognise its sovereignty.</p>
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<h2>A fractious relationship</h2>
<p>His relationship with Australia has long been rocky. In 2006, when prime minister previously, he expelled the Australian High Commissioner over a dispute about <a href="https://nautilus.org/publications/books/australian-forces-abroad/solomon-islands/julian-moti-and-the-raid-on-the-prime-minister2019s-office/">a legal case against his attorney general</a>. Matters reached a low during a subsequent and related raid of his offices involving Australian police. He angrily threatened to chuck Australia out of the country. It’s unlikely Sogavare has forgotten or forgiven that chapter of history.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, times move on. At the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-29/solomon-islands-at-a-crossroads-as-australian-led-mission-ends/8661532">departure of</a> the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) in 2017, Sogavare gave an emotional speech of gratitude for what the mission (and Australia) achieved. He thanked Australia for police assistance late last year to help control <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/honiara-smoke-subsides">rioting</a>. The regional intervention brought calm, but Honiara still endured loss of life, looting and extensive property damage.</p>
<p>The inability of his police forces to control social unrest creates a political vulnerability. Sogavare signed the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/us-warns-that-china-s-soldiers-could-be-stationed-in-solomons-20220419-p5aeib.html">security pact with China</a> to boost his response options for any future unrest and diversify aid and trade. This is in addition to the security agreement Solomon Islands has with Australia. The Chinese deal also <a href="https://www.news.com.au/world/pacific/australia-should-be-worried-over-chinas-movements-in-the-solomon-islands/news-story/998ef269859dd0f44f56c60f1a408601">benefitted government (and political) coffers</a>. </p>
<p>Some believe the deal helped Sogavare fight off a motion of no confidence that followed the riots.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488197/original/file-20221005-26-lkxtlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/488197/original/file-20221005-26-lkxtlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488197/original/file-20221005-26-lkxtlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488197/original/file-20221005-26-lkxtlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488197/original/file-20221005-26-lkxtlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488197/original/file-20221005-26-lkxtlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/488197/original/file-20221005-26-lkxtlv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">An Australian solider keeps watch over a Honiara market in 2006 as part of the RAMSI mission.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lloyd Jones/AAP</span></span>
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<h2>What can we expect when Sogavare comes to Australia?</h2>
<p>The Albanese government has acted quickly to calm the political waters stirred up by the Morrison government’s strong response to the China security pact and other festering irritants related to weak action on climate change and the AUKUS deal. One of the first bilateral visits Foreign Minister Wong made was to Solomon Islands.</p>
<p>Like other Pacific leaders, Sogavare will leverage the tense geopolitical situation to advantage. He’ll work to diversify, not deter, donor relations, even if at times it gets rather messy. To date the strategy has boosted assistance to Solomons by hundreds of thousands.</p>
<p>Harsh words thrown our way by Sogavare are not well matched by public sentiment. For the people of Solomon Islands, Australian engagement is welcome, including security assistance, generous aid, and the expanded labour mobility program.</p>
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<p>Sogavare can be tough on Australia, but it’s a careful balancing act. He’ll want to maintain, even grow, labour market access, educational scholarships, and investments in COVID recovery and infrastructure.</p>
<p>There is mutual interest in keeping the region and Solomon Islands stable.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/solomon-islands-election-postponement-plans-ensure-global-scrutiny-will-continue-189865">Solomon Islands' election postponement plans ensure global scrutiny will continue</a>
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<p>For the upcoming visit, Australia will not apply pressure, but rather play the long game and advance an image of a patient and committed friend. The clear message will be that the door is open for dialogue and the relationship will endure beyond these tense times, and strengthen. Sogavare will likely also be measured and courteous as a guest of state.</p>
<p>There will be sweeteners. Australia will likely put additional offers of assistance on the table, which Sogavare will no doubt graciously accept. But that won’t bind him in the future. His attitude to Australia will remain prickly and wary. The message from Sogavare is he’ll call the tune, even if it is discordant. The Solomon Islands’ opposition, and many back in his country, would prefer a less bellicose approach.</p>
<p>Like other regional leaders, Sogavare <a href="https://solomons.gov.sb/high-level-visits-reflect-friends-to-all-enemy-to-none-policy/">claims</a> to be “friends to all, enemy to none”. That’s a nice way of saying: I can go elsewhere when pressured or need resources. But true friends take care not to undermine the foundations, integrity and longevity of a relationship. </p>
<p>This trip is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship through quiet diplomacy, with neither side shying away from critical issues of strategic interests, media freedom and climate action.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191850/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Pacific Island Program at the Lowy Institute receives funding from the Australian government, the private sector and non-government organisations. None of these funds influence the personal views expressed in this article. The author is not a direct recipient of these funds.
As noted in my bionote I am the Pacific Island Program Director, at the Lowy Institute. This is Australia's leading think tank. I am also an Honorary Professor, Department of Pacific Affairs, ANU. </span></em></p>The prime minister’s visit comes after a fractious year between the two countries, including tensions over China’s role in the Pacific and the postponed election in Solomon Islands.Meg Keen, Honorary Professor, Department of Pacific Affairs, ANU; Director, Pacific Island Program, Lowy Institute, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1871722022-08-03T05:58:48Z2022-08-03T05:58:48ZPacific nations are extraordinarily rich in critical minerals. But mining them may take a terrible toll<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477323/original/file-20220803-24-12ssaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=336%2C171%2C4250%2C2913&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Plundering the Pacific for its rich natural resources has a long pedigree. Think of the European companies <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-rise-of-nauru-can-the-island-bounce-back-from-its-mining-boom-and-bust-62419">strip-mining Nauru</a> for its phosphate and leaving behind a moonscape. </p>
<p>There are worrying signs history may be about to repeat, as global demand soars for minerals critical to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18661-9">clean energy transition</a>. This demand is creating pressure to extract more minerals from the sensitive lands and seabeds across the Pacific. Pacific leaders may be attracted by the prospect of royalties and economic development – but there will be a price to pay in environmental damage.</p>
<p>As our <a href="https://jtpac.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/">new research shows</a>, this dilemma has often been ignored due to the urgency of the green transition. But if we fail to address the social and environmental costs of extraction, the transition will not be fair.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="exhausted phosphate mine Nauru" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477324/original/file-20220803-24-aa4z4j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Around 80% of Nauru’s surface was strip-mined for phosphate, leaving a moonscape behind.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty</span></span>
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<h2>Trouble in paradise: climate change and globalisation</h2>
<p>Nations across the Pacific now face a double threat: climate change and the consequences of extractive industries. Rising sea levels, more powerful cyclones and droughts <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-and-the-future-of-our-pacific-neighbours-4512">threaten low-lying nations</a>, while the legacy of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/07/mining-in-the-pacific-a-blessing-and-a-curse">worst effects</a> of global resource extraction industries lives on. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pacific-islands-are-back-on-the-map-and-climate-action-is-not-negotiable-for-would-be-allies-187086">Pacific Islands are back on the map, and climate action is not negotiable for would-be allies</a>
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<p>Now they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/23/minings-new-frontier-pacific-nations-caught-in-the-rush-for-deep-sea-riches">face a resurgence</a>. You might not associate the small islands of the Pacific with mining, but the region contains enormous deposits of minerals and metals needed for the global energy transition. </p>
<p>Under the soils of New Caledonia lie between 10 and 30 per cent of the world’s known reserves of nickel, a critical component of the lithium-ion batteries which will power electric cars and stabilise renewable-heavy grids. In Papua New Guinea and Fiji there are vast <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.02.146">undeveloped copper reserves</a>. It’s estimated cobalt – another key battery component – is found in the deep sea around the Pacific in quantities <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02242-y">several times larger</a> than land resources. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="New Caledonia nickel" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477321/original/file-20220803-26-muh9eq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">New Caledonia has huge resources of nickel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty</span></span>
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<p>Sensing this opportunity, miners from Australia, China and elsewhere are lining up to take advantage of global demand while positioning themselves as vital contributors to climate action. </p>
<p>You might think this is a win-win – the world gets critical minerals, and the Pacific gets royalties. While some Pacific nations like Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia see an opportunity for economic development, the problem is that historically, many Pacific states have struggled to <a href="http://doi.org/10.22459/AP.2021">control the excesses</a> of the extractive industries and convert their natural mineral wealth into broad based human development.</p>
<p>Yes, building low-carbon energy systems to power a low-carbon economy will require vast amounts of minerals and metals for new technologies and energy infrastructure. </p>
<p>But supplying these resources shouldn’t <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-clean-energy-means-more-mines-we-shouldnt-sacrifice-communities-in-the-name-of-climate-action-170938">come at the expense</a> of communities and environments.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/deep-sea-mining-may-wipe-out-species-we-have-only-just-discovered-173558">Deep-sea mining may wipe out species we have only just discovered</a>
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<p><a href="https://jtpac.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/">Our research</a> reveals that extractive projects planned or underway in the Pacific are located in some of the world’s most <a href="https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/4200/Just-transitions-justice-dimensions-extracting-energy-metals-pacific.pdf">complex and volatile</a> environmental, social and governance conditions in the world.</p>
<p>Think of the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-30/honiaras-deadly-riots-echo-ethnic-tensions-of-20-years-ago/100658298">historic and current tensions</a> in Solomon Islands or the separatist movement <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-papua-bougainville-idUSKBN1XV0KE">radicalised by mining</a> in Papua New Guinea’s Bougainville region. Increased pressure to mine in combustible regions is risky. </p>
<h2>Will this place pressure on Pacific unity?</h2>
<p>Pacific leaders understand these risks. At last month’s forum, they endorsed a new <a href="https://www.forumsec.org/2050strategy/">30 year strategy</a> for the Pacific, which speaks to this double bind. The strategy declares the urgent need to act on climate while also calling for careful stewardship of the region’s natural resources to boost socio-economic growth and improve the lives of their citizens. </p>
<p>Tourism campaigns by Pacific nations often show pictures of happy people in lush environments. But the reality is much of the region is <a href="http://doi.org/10.22459/UE.2020">chronically unequal</a>. </p>
<p>Many Pacific leaders want development opportunities and resent being told what to do with their natural resources by the leaders of developed nations. Others, however, are concerned about the damage mining may do to their environment. </p>
<p>This emerging divide is why dreams of regional unity remain elusive. Despite calls for a unified Pacific voice, different leaders have very different views about mining. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Underwater coral reef" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477325/original/file-20220803-1926-xmoyqr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Pacific seas have mineral wealth - and sensitive ecosystems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty</span></span>
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<p>In recent months, we’ve seen the Federated States of Micronesia join Samoa, Fiji and Palau in calling for a moratorium on deep sea mining, while Nauru, Tonga, Kiribati and Cook Islands have already <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/14/csiro-joins-deep-sea-mining-project-in-pacific-as-islands-call-for-industry-halt">backed seabed projects</a>.</p>
<p>In February this year, Cook Islands <a href="https://www.sbma.gov.ck/">granted three licences</a> to explore for <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43017-020-0027-0">polymetallic nodules</a> – lucrative lumps of multiple metals – in the seas to which they have <a href="https://www.maraemoana.gov.ck/about-marae-moana/eez-and-fishing/#:%7E:text=The%20Cook%20Islands%20Exclusive%20Economic,masses%20is%20divided%20in%20two.">exclusive economic rights</a>. </p>
<p>You can see the appeal – an estimated <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2018.09.010">8.9 billion tons</a> of nodules lie strewn around the ocean floor. These deposits are worth an estimated $A14.4 trillion. Trillion, not billion. This is the world’s largest and richest known resource of polymetallic nodules within a sovereign territory, and a massive share of the world’s currently known cobalt resources. </p>
<p>These nodules are so rich in four essential metals needed for batteries (cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese) that they are often called “a battery in a rock”.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the Papua New Guinean government is <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-can-help-ensure-the-biggest-mine-in-pngs-history-wont-leave-a-toxic-legacy-185580">considering</a> enormous new gold and copper mines which lie in ecologically and socially vulnerable areas. Locals, environmentalists and experts have already sounded warnings over a project planned at the headwaters of the untouched Sepik River. No one wants to see a repeat of the Ok Tedi <a href="https://theconversation.com/ok-tedi-immunity-gone-with-implications-beyond-bhp-19188">mining disaster</a>. </p>
<p>Similar debates are raging over whether to reopen the <a href="https://www.hrlc.org.au/reports/2021/7/1/after-the-mine-living-with-rio-tintos-deadly-legacy">lucrative but disastrous</a> Panguna copper mine on Bougainville Island, as local leaders look for ways to fund their <a href="https://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n3901/pdf/ch12.pdf">forthcoming independence</a> from Papua New Guinea. </p>
<h2>Policymakers must pay attention</h2>
<p>To date, Australian policymakers have not considered the risks of huge new mining operations across the Pacific. In part, this is because some of these mines are framed as a key way to tackle climate change, the largest threat to the region. </p>
<p>This has to change. Action on climate change is vital – but the Pacific’s peoples must actually benefit from the mining of their resources. If this mineral rush isn’t done carefully, we could see the profits disappear overseas – and the environmental mess left behind for Pacific nations to deal with. </p>
<p>This challenge comes at a time of heightened geostrategic competition, as China moves into the region seeking influence and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/31/the-3bn-bargain-how-china-dominates-pacific-mining-logging-and-fishing">raw materials</a> ranging from wood to fish to minerals. </p>
<p>If Australia’s new government is serious about using its sizeable regional influence to tackle climate change in the Pacific, it must ensure it is done justly and fairly. We must focus our policy attentions on the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2163">complicated knot</a> of clean energy and intensified mining. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/more-clean-energy-means-more-mines-we-shouldnt-sacrifice-communities-in-the-name-of-climate-action-170938">More clean energy means more mines – we shouldn't sacrifice communities in the name of climate action</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nick Bainton received funding for this reseach from the British Academy. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emilka Skrzypek received funding for this research from the British Academy.</span></em></p>For centuries, Pacific Islands have been raided by mining interests with little to show for it. Harnessing their enormous green mineral wealth must be done justly.Nick Bainton, Associate Professor, The University of QueenslandEmilka Skrzypek, Senior Policy Fellow, University of St AndrewsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1870862022-07-18T03:13:22Z2022-07-18T03:13:22ZPacific Islands are back on the map, and climate action is not negotiable for would-be allies<p>This year’s Pacific Islands Forum marked the beginning of a more dangerous era as Pacific leaders tried to find common responses to both the climate crisis and sharpening geostrategic competition. </p>
<p>There was unprecedented interest in this year’s forum, held in Fiji’s capital Suva. I should know. I lived in Suva for much of my adult life, which included several years teaching at the University of the South Pacific. I was also in town for last week’s summit. </p>
<p>The annual gathering of island leaders and their counterparts from Australia and New Zealand is typically the one time of year when there’s international focus on the region. But this year’s forum was something else. A huge media pack descended, to the bemusement of many Fijians who felt the meeting was divorced from their daily challenges. </p>
<p>Many journalists were there to cover the growing competition between China and the United States, and attempts by Australia’s new government to shore up its influence. Pacific leaders tried to highlight their own priorities, especially climate change. </p>
<p>After the summit, it’s clear these things are connected. Pacific countries know they’re in a fight for survival, and any country that wants their support must show it’s serious about tackling climate change.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-australias-new-climate-policy-be-enough-to-reset-relations-with-pacific-nations-184833">Will Australia’s new climate policy be enough to reset relations with Pacific nations?</a>
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<h2>Competition returns to the Pacific</h2>
<p>When the Cold War ended, Pacific island countries “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25434267">fell off the map</a>” of global geopolitics. Concerns the Soviet Union might establish a naval base in the Pacific had prompted the US and its allies to step up aid to the region in the 1980s. Once the Soviet threat receded, the US reduced its presence by closing embassies in the region. </p>
<p>This year, Pacific nations are back on the map. A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/20/the-deal-that-shocked-the-world-inside-the-china-solomons-security-pact">security deal</a> signed in April between China and Solomon Islands – which could allow for a Chinese military presence and ship resupply – has alarmed security planners in Washington and Canberra.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-the-wake-of-the-china-solomon-islands-pact-australia-needs-to-rethink-its-pacific-relationships-181702">In the wake of the China-Solomon Islands pact, Australia needs to rethink its Pacific relationships</a>
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<p>Island nations nonetheless tried to keep geostrategic competition off the agenda at this year’s forum. They <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-24/pacific-snubs-us-china-for-leaders-meeting/101178970">tried to exclude both China and the US</a> by deferring a dialogue with partner countries that would usually be held the day after the forum leaders’ summit. </p>
<p>Undeterred, Chinese officials <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-27/china-pushes-for-pacific-foreign-ministers-meeting/101186148">pressed to meet with island nations</a> on the day of the leaders’ meeting. Washington trumped Beijing, however, as US Vice President Kamala Harris <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/12/us-to-open-two-new-embassies-in-pacific-as-it-jostles-with-china-for-influence-in-region">beamed in via video link</a> to tell Pacific leaders the US would increase aid to the region and step up its diplomatic presence. The US has plans for two new embassies (in Kiribati and Tonga) and a new US envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum. </p>
<p>As forum chair, Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama had invited Harris. A week earlier, he had met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. After the meeting, Bainimarama <a href="https://twitter.com/FijiPM/status/1545544864640962560">said</a>: </p>
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<p>“Now that we are on the same page on climate action, the potential of our Pacific partnership is limitless!”</p>
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<h2>Declaring a Pacific climate emergency</h2>
<p>Pacific island countries have been crystal clear for decades that climate change is their greatest security threat. Compared with geostrategic competition, the impacts of a warming planet – stronger cyclones, devastating floods, rising seas and dying reefs – are more immediate threats. </p>
<p>As Fiji’s military commander, Viliame Naupoto, <a href="https://www.australianforeignaffairs.com/articles/extract/2021/08/ripple-effect">told a regional security dialogue</a> in 2019: </p>
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<p>“I believe there are three major powers in competition in our region. There is the US […] there is China (and) the third competitor is climate change. Of the three, climate change is winning, and climate change exerts the most influence on countries in our part of the world. If there is any competition, it is with climate change.”</p>
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<p>In recent years failure to do anything meaningful about climate change undermined Australian strategy in the Pacific. At the last in-person Pacific Islands Forum in 2019, the then prime minister, Scott Morrison, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/16/revealed-fierce-pacific-forum-meeting-almost-collapsed-over-climate-crisis">blocked the words “climate crisis”</a> from appearing in the final communique. This move led to island leaders saying they would <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/16/fiji-pm-frank-bainimarama-insulting-scott-morrison-rift-pacific-countries">prefer to work with China</a>.</p>
<p>So it was that new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hoped to reset Pacific relations with strengthened climate targets – by promising to cut Australia’s emissions by 43% this decade. </p>
<p>In Suva, he joined island leaders in officially <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-15/pacific-leaders-declare-climate-emergency-in-joint-pif-statement/101239362">declaring a Pacific climate emergency</a>. The contrast with Morrison could not have been greater. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare warmly embraced Albanese and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jul/14/solomon-islands-pm-rules-out-chinese-military-base-china-australia-security-partner-manasseh-sogavare">told him</a> Australia remains his country’s security partner of choice. </p>
<h2>Working together to tackle the region’s key threat?</h2>
<p>Pacific leaders formally welcomed Australia’s new climate targets. But they also told Albanese they expect to see more. Bainimarama <a href="https://twitter.com/FijiPM/status/1547186861453737984">pointedly urged him</a> “to go further for our family’s shared future by aligning Australia’s commitment to the 1.5-degree target”. </p>
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<p>Island nations see limiting global warming to 1.5°C as key to their survival – “1.5 to stay alive” is their slogan. The science is clear: if we are to have a reasonable chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C, <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/CC_MVSA0314-CC-Report-Pacific-Islands-Forum_V6-FA-Low_Res_Single-Screen.pdf">global emissions must halve by 2030</a>. </p>
<p>A wealthy nation such as Australia – with <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/energy/resources/other-renewable-energy-resources/solar-energy">vast untapped renewable energy resources</a> – should <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/aim-high-go-fast-why-emissions-must-plummet-climate-council-report-210421.pdf">aim to cut emissions by 75%</a> this decade. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-could-be-a-superpower-3-ways-australia-can-take-advantage-of-the-changing-geopolitics-of-energy-161343">We could be a superpower: 3 ways Australia can take advantage of the changing geopolitics of energy</a>
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<p>Pacific leaders also welcomed Australia’s proposal to co-host a United Nations climate summit, possibly as soon as 2024. </p>
<p>This could be a way for Australia to work with Pacific countries to shape global efforts to cut emissions. It would require significant diplomatic investment from Canberra. Planning to co-host a major climate summit also means we can expect an ongoing conversation with other nations about Australia’s own climate ambition. </p>
<p>No doubt island leaders will press the Australian government to do more. As the region hots up, we will find out just how serious Australia is about helping Pacific countries to counter their key security threat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187086/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Wesley Morgan is a Senior Researcher with the Climate Council</span></em></p>For Pacific Islands, climate change trumps all other threats to their security. While they welcome Australia’s new emission targets, this is an issue of survival that demands greater ambition.Wesley Morgan, Research Fellow, Griffith Asia Institute, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1868152022-07-13T20:03:13Z2022-07-13T20:03:13ZAlbanese just laid out a radical new vision for Australia in the region: clean energy exporter and green manufacturer<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473798/original/file-20220713-20-tsnljj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C0%2C7426%2C6387&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gone are the days when the federal government would cheer on Australia’s fossil fuel exports to the exclusion of all else, while seemingly doing everything in its power to hold back the switch to renewables. </p>
<p>Now we have a new government, the clean energy transition is accelerating. Labor is framing the transition not just as decarbonisation but as a green economic boom through manufacture of electrolysers, green steel, green cement and green fertiliser. If successful, this will amount to a green industrial revolution. </p>
<p>This radical new vision was <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/australia-must-seize-once-in-a-generation-opportunity-on-renewables-says-albanese-2/">laid out</a> in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s speech this week to the Sydney Energy Forum. He proposed a new era for Australian energy industries and exports as well as using our wealth of renewables to drive deeper involvement in our region.</p>
<p>It makes good commercial and climate sense for the federal government to target the Indo-Pacific for this green industrial revolution, since the region is already the world’s leader in clean energy investments. </p>
<p>As of 2021, our region accounts for over 80% of the world’s private investment in clean energy. India, China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and Pacific nations are natural partners for Australia in this new green push as well as leaders creating the market for clean energy and green products. </p>
<h2>What does this actually look like?</h2>
<p>For a sign of what’s to come, look to the massive <a href="https://suncable.energy/">Sun Cable</a> project, launched four years ago with early funding by Australian billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes of Atlassian and Andrew Forrest of Fortescue Minerals Group. </p>
<p>The project’s ambitious goal is to become the first intercontinental exporter of renewables, by generating massive amounts of energy from solar farms in the Northern Territory and transmitting it to energy-hungry Singapore through a 4,200 km-long high voltage undersea cable. Government backing will help it progress faster. </p>
<p>The project has gained strong support from both territory and federal governments, and is now attracting support from the Indonesian and Singaporean governments. Indonesia’s government has given in principle approval for the cable’s undersea route through its national waters and has approved the undersea survey permit. There will be spillover benefits, such as $A1.5 billion <a href="https://www.afr.com/world/asia/sun-cable-eyes-indonesia-as-australia-steps-up-business-push-20220607-p5ars5">earmarked</a> for a marine repair base in Indonesia. </p>
<p>Sun Cable and other renewable megaprojects, such as Western Australia’s proposed <a href="https://research.csiro.au/hyresource/asian-renewable-energy-hub/">Asian Renewable Energy Hub</a>, show the move away from reliance on fossil fuel exports is actually happening. The Albanese government <a href="https://www.alp.org.au/policies/powering-australia">has signalled</a> its intention to promote clean energy exports as well as green industrial development across the Indo-Pacific. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-koreas-green-new-deal-shows-the-world-what-a-smart-economic-recovery-looks-like-145032">research project</a> on the clean energy shift in north-east Asia has captured the progress made by major regional economies China and Korea in powering ahead with their own green transitions since the 2000s. These ongoing transitions offer major opportunities, such as exporting Australian-made green hydrogen to fuel cars in these countries. </p>
<h2>Our clean and green transition is bigger than just renewables</h2>
<p>Since Labor took office, we’ve heard a lot about our future as a renewables superpower. Often overlooked is the fact this would mean not just generating renewable electricity and green hydrogen at vast scale but also investing in new industries and processes to grasp as many opportunities as we can. </p>
<p>This would mean investing in upstream industries such as solar array fabrication and electrolyser manufacture, as well as downstream industries such as green steel, green cement and green fertiliser. These new green products would be produced using locally generated supplies of green hydrogen and cheap clean renewable power, as economist <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/06/ross-garnaut-three-policies-will-set-australia-on-a-path-to-100-renewable-energy">Ross Garnaut</a> has outlined. </p>
<p>Green energy is no longer a niche concern. Australia’s largest companies are leading the way. </p>
<p>Andrew Forrest’s new spin-off company, <a href="https://ffi.com.au/about/">Fortescue Future Industries</a>, has begun constructing a $1 billion project building green hydrogen manufacturing components, cabling and renewable generation in central Queensland. This single project is expected to double the global production capacity of green hydrogen. It will make Queensland home to a new green hydrogen fuel and components export industry.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/will-australias-new-climate-policy-be-enough-to-reset-relations-with-pacific-nations-184833">Will Australia’s new climate policy be enough to reset relations with Pacific nations?</a>
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<p>If our new government can pull this off and turn vision to reality, we could embrace a new green growth economy and begin our own green industrial revolution. </p>
<p>Better yet, Australia could finally make full use of its abundant land and renewable resources to fast-track the clean economic development of our Indo-Pacific neighbours. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473799/original/file-20220713-24-g0ppvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="power lines" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473799/original/file-20220713-24-g0ppvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473799/original/file-20220713-24-g0ppvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473799/original/file-20220713-24-g0ppvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473799/original/file-20220713-24-g0ppvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473799/original/file-20220713-24-g0ppvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473799/original/file-20220713-24-g0ppvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473799/original/file-20220713-24-g0ppvf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Generating and transmitting green power could be a major boon to Australia.</span>
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<h2>Green energy comes with security and geopolitical benefits</h2>
<p>For decades, Pacific nations have seen climate change as the single greatest threat to their people. As a result, Australian investment in exportable renewables will become a key diplomatic tool as geopolitical competition between China and the US intensifies in our region. </p>
<p>China isn’t standing still either. Until recently, China focused its regional aid and investment on traditional infrastructure projects such as airports, roads and stadiums. Now Beijing is ramping up its climate responses to the region, with climate change issues at the top of the agenda at the China-Pacific Islands forum held in 2019. </p>
<p>In light of China’s growing green activism in the Pacific, the Australian government has a lot of ground to make up. </p>
<p>It should start with a major rethink of Australia’s traditional approach to financing energy projects, which has seen us <a href="https://www.jubileeaustralia.org/our-impact-areas/climate-justice/ending-public-finance">support fossil fuel power</a> in the region. </p>
<p>We can no longer keep propping up fossil fuels, with the costs of this support not only environmental, but geostrategic as well. Partnering with China on Pacific projects, as Pacific minister Pat Conroy <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pacific-minister-says-australia-is-open-to-partnering-on-chinese-projects-20220713-p5b17j.html">has flagged</a>, could also help. </p>
<p>Albanese’s speech this week was promising. He laid out a very different role for Australia in our region – one where our regional engagement policy is in line with a new domestic policy on climate goals, and where renewable energy provides a means of deepening regional cooperation on tangible investment projects. Now comes the hard part: delivery. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Mathews receives funding from the Australia Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project 2019-2022.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Thurbon currently receives funding from the Australia Research Council (ARC), the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS), and the Commonwealth Department of Defence. She has previously received funding from The Korea Foundation and the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA). She is currently a Fellow of The Asia Society (sponsored by the Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and a member of the Research Committee of the Jubilee Australia Research Centre. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hao Tan receives funding from the Australia Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project 2019-2022. He previously received funding from the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and funding from the Confucius Institute Headquarters under the "Understanding China Fellowship" in 2017.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sung-Young Kim receives funding from the Australia Research Council (ARC) and has previously received funding from the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS). He is on the Executive Committee of the Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) and also on the Executive Committee of the Korean Studies Association of Australasia (KSAA).</span></em></p>This week, Austalia began a climate pivot on its relationship with the region. Fossil fuels are out and exporting green energy and green manufacturing techniques are in.John Mathews, Professor Emeritus, Macquarie Business School, Macquarie UniversityElizabeth Thurbon, Scientia Associate Professor in International Relations / International Political Economy, UNSW SydneyHao Tan, Associate Professor, Newcastle Business School, University of NewcastleSung-Young Kim, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, Discipline of Politics & International Relations, Macquarie School of Social Sciences, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.