Environmentalist Nakibae Tentabo in Kiribati. Photo: Greenpeace/Sutton

Pacific.Scoop
By Olivia Wix of Te Waha Nui

Greenpeace and the Labour Party are warning New Zealand will soon have an influx of climate change refugees from the Pacific.

Climate change campaigner for Greenpeace Simon Boxer says instead of helping the islands with climate change, it is likely the New Zealand government will offer them residency instead.

“The Government takes a view that in the worst case scenario it will offer Pacific Island residents visas or residency to New Zealand or Australia.

“I don’t think they care if nation states like Tuvalu or Kiribati even exist, or whether the societies will go completely extinct.”

At the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Cairns this month, Prime Minister John Key said he hoped the situation would not get this bad, but if it did New Zealand would help Pacific nations out.

Labour Party climate change spokesperson Charles Chauvel says New Zealand will face a very grim reality.

“We will have to offer to resettle people from the Pacific if climate change means their homes become uninhabitable.  But for goodness sake what a tragedy it would be if we let that happen.”

The comments come after the government announced last week that it would aim for a 10-20 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction.

Harsh criticism quickly followed from scientists and environmental groups who say the target is too low.

Chauvel says the target reinforces the fact that the government doesn’t care about climate change or the impacts for our Pacific Island neighbours.

‘Pitiful record’

“We’ve got a government here who wants to do as little as possible. For all our claims to be a good neighbour and a good citizen in the Pacific, this Government’s record, as far as climate change is concerned, is pitiful.”

The executive director of Oxfam New Zealand, Barry Coates, says it is unlikely the government is using residency as a back-up plan but with its “head-in-the-sand” attitude it is likely to happen.

“I think there will be resistance to this. These people have such a connection to their land, their family, their community. The idea of doing nothing and getting shipped to New Zealand is not something they want to do.

“Pacific leaders are deeply concerned about their people. They are going to conclude that New Zealand doesn’t care if the people of the Pacific exist.”

Chauvel adds: “What an indictment it would be to say in 20 or more years we did nothing to prevent the islands from sinking under the sea.

“What would that do to our status as good members of the Pacific Islands?”

Minister for Climate Change Nick Smith says Pacific Islanders do not want to be refugees and the government is working on the relationship between New Zealand and the islands.

“Strengthening New Zealand’s relationship with our Pacific neighbours is a key priority for the government.  In terms of the Pacific, what the world does – not just New Zealand – will be critical.”

Olivia Wix is a Graduate Diploma in Journalism student journalist at AUT University. This front page story from Te Waha Nui is republished from issue 28, August 21.