State of the Environment
Caritas has been reporting on the Oceania environment since 2014.
Stories, video, comment and analysis are available online here. This work is a collaboration between Caritas agencies and partners across Oceania and informs the global Caritas network.
In October 2023, Caritas Internationalis released its report Displaced by a Changing Climate – including Oceania voices on the impact of climate change. The report is available here.
In 2022, Caritas Oceania and Jubilee Australia jointly published Twin Clouds on the Horizon: averting a combined climate and debt crisis in the Pacific.
From 2015-2021, we followed five key issues affecting local communities through the Caritas State of the Environment for Oceania report series. These issues are: Coastal erosion and sea level rise, food and water, extreme weather, offshore mining and drilling, and climate finance.
These reports and associated video, stories and maps are available below. You can also follow our talanoa on caring for our common home in Oceania through The Oceanian.
Story Map:
Caritas State of the Environment for Oceania 2022
Our online environmental monitor shows stories and photos of environmental impact and response over 2022.
Stories
Throughout the year, to support the Caritas State of the Environment for Oceania report, we share stories from around the region to amplify the voices of those people who are experiencing critical environmental issues firsthand.
Videos
Listen as the people of Oceania lift their voices to share their personal experience of critical environmental issues.
Join ‘The Oceanian’
The Oceanian is an online 'talanoa’ forum for sharing stories and discussion in support of the Caritas State of the Environment for Oceania report (SEFO).
Caritas Oceania 2022 report
on climate finance & debt
Caritas Oceania with Jubilee Australia released the report Twin clouds on the horizon: averting a combined climate and debt crisis in the Pacific through locally-delivered climate finance on 4 October at the Caritas Oceania Forum in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
Photo Credit: Karen Anaya
Caritas' State of the Environment for Oceania 2021: Towards our Future Home was launched through a global online webinar on Monday 4 October, the Feast of St Francis of Assisi.
Caritas' annual State of the Environment for Oceania report for 2020, Towards New Horizons, was released through a global webinar on Friday 2 October, followed by an online Mass on Sunday 4 October hosted by the Catholic Diocese of Auckland.
The Caritas State of the Environment for Oceania 2019 Report: Seeds of Hope was launched on 3 October at St Mary’s Church, Papakura.
The Caritas State of the Environment for Oceania Report: Waters of Life, Oceans of Mercy was launched on St Francis Day, 4 October 2018, during the week-long Caritas Oceania Forum held at the Home of Compassion, Island Bay.
Caritas’ fourth State of the Environment for Oceania report, Turning the Tide, was released on St Francis Day, at Te Ngākau Tapu Parish in Porirua, Aotearoa New Zealand.
“People have died and have been sick because they have no food to eat and no safe, clean water to drink.”
Tony Inikre (Caritas Coordinator for Vanimo Diocese in northwest Papua New Guinea), in February, during the peak of the El Niño drought in Papua New Guinea.
“For us Oceania peoples, ... climate change is a daily struggle. For many of our Oceania countries it is a question of whether we remain on or leave our sinking homes. Our livelihoods are linked to the Pacific Ocean. Sea level rise and ocean acidification and other effects of global warming threaten our way of life – and even our national identities. For us it is a matter of life and death.”
- Caritas Oceania leaders
In 2014 we produced our foundational report on the environment in Oceania based on interviews with our partners in the region. We took the title, Small yet strong: Voices from Oceania on the environment, from the Pope Francis quote below.