Pacific.Scoop
By Nanette Woonton in Majuro

Twenty years ago, the Marshall Islands was home to one of the first Pacific islands regional climate change conferences held.

Now, two decades later, the Marshall Islands is host yet again to another Pacific climate change conference.

For both of these crucial meetings Professor Patrick Nunn, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific, was present.

This week he has been facilitator for the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable which is convened by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in partnership with the Marshal Islands government.

In 1988, the “Climate change and sea level rise in the Pacific islands” meeting was attended by Professor Nunn on behalf of the USP.

“The preoccupation of the meeting back then was the science of climate change and what was going to happen and how reliable were the predictions of future climate change in the Pacific, they were called predictions back then,” said Professor Nunn.

“I think it marked the first time that Pacific islands countries and stakeholders really began to take the issue of climate change in the Pacific, seriously.”

A speech made by the then President of the Marshall Islands, Amata Kabua, was particularly memorable to Professor Nunn as the president was one of the first Pacific islands leaders to stand up and make a global appeal.

President Kabua stated in his speech in 1988: “It is truly frightening to think that our ocean will turn against us … I hope that the appeal of the peoples of the Pacific can help convince the industrialised nations to discontinue their profligate contamination of the atmosphere.”

Professor Nunn ... witnessed major shift in how Pacific islanders see climate change. Photo: USPProfessor Nunn believes for the last 20 years this appeal was virtually ignored.

Virtually ignored
“I think it’s really only in the last few years that the rest of the world has realised that the Pacific islands are facing an unprecedented situation because they are uniquely vulnerable in many ways to the various aspects of climate change.”

This week during the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable, Professor Nunn has noticed a major difference between the two conferences. Now there is much more focus on the effects that climate change is likely to have on Pacific people.

It was during 1988 that talks focused on the effects climate change will have on the physical environment.

“Today the agenda has flipped almost 180 degrees completely to focus on the people and the changes of the environment are secondary. If there are no people on our island then we’re not really worried about the effects on our environment as climate change talks today are more about people and livelihoods.”

Professor Nunn also shares how 20 years ago at one of the first Pacific regional conferences it was viewed that climate change was a problem that could be solved and would go away in time. The whole time context of climate change has altered in the last 20 years as there is now a better understanding of just how climate change is going to impact upon the Pacific.

Photo: SPREP

The Pacific region is strongly concerned that emissions that have already occurred will have impacts on the atmosphere for years to come, giving even greater urgency to the need for ambitious mitigation targets and support for adaptation.

“I think again the emphasis has now changed as we realise this problem is going to be with us for our lifetimes, our children’s lifetimes and possibly even our grandchildren’s.

“Today when we talk about mitigation we are talking about securing a world and its resources for 60 yrs from now as opposed to talking about next year or something like that.”

This week the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable has looked to strengthen regional collaboration and coordination of addressing climate change issues in the region. Professor Nunn is the facilitator for the three day meeting which ends today.

Working papers on the 2009 Pacific Climate Change Roundtable.

More details from SPREP’s climate change adviser: Espen Ronneberg