DEAR EDITOR, quoting Radio New Zealand – 5 October 2018
“Climate change experts and Pacific Islands leaders say indigenous views must be included when it comes to creating regional policies on the issue.
“The importance of western and indigenous perspectives uniting when it comes to tackling climate change in the region was highlighted at a recent conference in Auckland.
“For all the lengthiness of its title, the “Climate Change and Conflict in the Pacific: Prevention, Management and the Enhancement of Community Resilience” workshop had a simple message: don’t forget about the Pacific.
“Despite being on the frontline of climate change impacts, Pacific Islanders’ own views on the issue are often absent from the current policy-making process.”
“Those claims are echoed by people like Reverend Dr Upolu Vaai from the Theological College in Fiji, who experiences the impact of climate change effects on the ground every day.
“The narrative, the climate change narrative has been dominated by either the scientific world view or perspective or the economic perspective where the indigenous perspective and indigenous world views are often excluded.”
“Building on the traditional wisdom and Pacific people’s understanding of their own environment is a challenge that Professor Kevin Clements, the Director of the Toda Peace Institute, said couldn’t be ignored.”
Copyright @ 2018, Radio New Zealand.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
