MARIA TIIMON, Caritas Australia’s climate change report ambassador, on why we should all be concerned about the effects of climate change outlined in the recent Caritas report, Hungry for Justice, Thirsty for Change, Caritas State of the Environment Report for Oceania 2016…
My name is Maria Tiimon, I am from Kirribati. A beautiful country in the Pacific, just a few metres above sea level. I am writing to tell you about my country, my people and my region. As a result of climate change so much is changing and so many good things are under threat.
I would like to draw your attention to an important piece of research: Hungry for Justice, Thirsty for Change, Caritas State of the Environment Report for Oceania 2016. The report captures the human story of what science has long been telling us – that the atmosphere is heating, the seas are rising, and that we are experiencing more extreme weather events of greater ferocity.
PICTURE: Caritas Tonga
At the recent General Assembly in New York, US Secretary of State, John Kerry, said “if anyone doubted the [climate] science, all they need to do is watch, sense and feel what is happening in the world today.” I echo the words of Secretary Kerry and invite you to read the report and ‘watch, sense and feel’ what Pacific Islanders are experiencing.
Millions of people on small islands are suffering from the effects of climate change – a problem to which we did little to contribute. The impacts are wide ranging and cross cutting. Over the last twelve months we have seen reduced access to good quality food and water for example, an estimated 2.7 million people were affected by drought in Papua New Guinea. In Vanuatu, a country that normally has a high level of water and food security, doctors have reported cases of malnutrition which, in some extreme cases, led to the death of children.
The seas are rising and major pieces of infrastructure are under threat. In the Solomon Islands, the National Referral Hospital provides a range of critical services, with 6,000 babies being born there every year. Over the last couple of years patients (including the critically ill, mothers and babies) have had to be evacuated four times as a result of storm surges and king tides. In the Carteret Islands, communities are already planning for their relocation as a result of sea level rise.
The hardest part of all of this is to maintain hope in the face of overwhelming odds. My niece wants to study medicine but then asks “why study medicine when our very survival is under threat”. I tell her that our people are survivors, we are resilient, resourceful and determined. We will and must find a way.
2016 is the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy in which we are being asked to consider what more we can do to reach out to our neighbours in need. So I invite you to reach out to your neighbours in the Pacific, to read the report and to work with me to build a sense of hope and possibility.
Maria Tiimon is the Caritas Australia climate change report ambassador
