Caritas has shifted the dial to 'severe' for four of its five environmental indicators, while climate finance for the poor has remained stubbornly at 'woefully inadequate' for 7 years.

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has monitored five environmental issues affecting people of the Pacific since 2015 through its State of the Environment for Oceania reports. In conjunction with other Caritas Oceania members and community-based partners throughout the Pacific, they have told the story of how extreme weather, rising seas and coastal erosion, access to safe local food and water, offshore mining and drilling, and inadequate climate finance supporting the poor are affecting the peoples of Oceania.

Last week, almost 80 people gathered for Caritas Oceania's online talanoa "Towards our Future Home: Imagining the Future we Need" to consider the enviromental challanges and solutions facing the region, through the experience of the poor.

The inter-related nature of the changes was illustrated by Caritas Tonga Director Suliana Falemaka: "Climate change is impacting our lands, coasts, water supplies and weather patterns. In Tonga, we have longer and more frequent droughts … People in low-lying coastal areas are seeing stronger storm, surge and flood events; while saltwater is contaminating groundwater and affecting drinking supplies."

Kositatino Tikomaibolatagane of Caritas Fiji said, "Coastal erosion has been affecting many communities in the Pacific, especially here in Fiji. More than three communities have been relocated elsewhere and 40 more communities are in the pipeline for the government plan to relocate them due to the problem of coastal erosion which resulted from sea level rise. A road which was accessible to vehicles up till last year is not accessible anymore because erosion has destroyed it."

The talanoa also highlighted the need to fully involve youth and Indigenous perspectives, and prioritising basic human rights to healthy food and safe drinking water. "Technology needs to be used appropriately for the common good. Youth and Indigenous perspective need to be fully incorporated into problem solving. "

"If we look after our land, it will look after us," said Mina Pomare-Peita, principal of Te Kura Taumata O Panguru. "As Indigenous, we need to take back and understand what time looks like for us. How do we observe the seasons, how do we observe our land, our ocean, our sky, and from there, how do we create solutions."

In November, thousands of people will gather in Glasgow for the COP26 meeting about the environment. Strong urgent action is needed on many fronts to turn things around for Oceania people directly impacted by sea level rise, coastal erosion and extreme weather events.

"The urgent transition away from fossil fuels can't be used to justify other forms of exploitation of people and nature," said Julianne Hickey, Director of Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand. We continue our call for a ban on seabed mining in both national and international waters. The people of Oceania rely on the ocean for their livelihoods. Seabed mining puts all that at risk".

"The latest IPCC report in August warned of huge climatic changes for us all. But it also signalled, big changes in behaviour by us now could start to start to make a difference in 20 years," said Julianne Hickey. "That's a long time politically, but it's not a long time to make a real difference for our children's children."

Further supporting material can be found on the Caritas website: www.caritas.org.nz/state-environment .

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