State of the Environment for Oceania 2016 Report
“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.
Hungry for justice, thirsty for change
The latest Caritas State of the Environment for Oceania report has found widespread hunger and thirst across the Pacific in 2015/2016. The report Hungry for justice, thirsty for change shows extreme weather events, combined with ongoing climatic changes, are contributing to a severe loss of food and water supplies in the region.
The report documents children eating tough cassava roots softened with paracetamol in Fiji, and people in Papua New Guinea walking days to get food and water during the El Niño weather pattern that brought widespread drought to Oceania. At its peak, the drought caused food and water shortages for an estimated 4.7 million people.
The impact of combined events such as cyclones and the El Niño continues to be felt, especially on health, education and livelihoods. While the impact on basic food and water supplies has pushed the Caritas indicator for people’s access to safe food and water up to severe this year.
However, the report also recognises that strong community resilience, coupled with a largely effective emergency response from governments and humanitarian agencies, helped to minimise loss of life and infrastructure during the El Niño drought.
The Caritas State of the Environment for Oceania report follows how five key environmental issues are affecting people in Oceania:
Food and water
Coastal erosion and sea level rise
Offshore mining and drilling
Impact of extreme weather
Climate finance
The 2015/2016 report has been produced in collaboration with Caritas Australia and Caritas Tonga.
Hungry for Justice
State of the Environment for Oceania 2016 Report
State of the Environment:
Food and Water
State of the Environment:
Rising Sea Level
State of the Environment for Oceania 2015 Report
“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
State of the Environment for Oceania 2014 Report
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.