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It was a sight to behold: Hundreds of thousands of protesters packed into Glasgow streets, voices echoing through the city, fists raised in the air.
Island flags soared above the crowd as Pacific Islanders and other Indigenous protesters led the climate justice march. American Samoa, Fiji, French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Narau, Tuvalu, and more—all were represented by demonstrators defiant in the face of empty promises.
The protesters were among dozens of Pacific Islanders who traveled to Glasgow, Scotland to demand immediate and aggressive climate action both in and outside the UN COP26 climate summit, which spanned Oct. 31 to Nov. 12.
Pacific Islanders raised the alarm about climate change long before the rest of the world caught on. In the Pacific, people are facing a rate of sea-level rise two to three times the global average. A history of U.S. and other world powers’ nuclear experiments has also exacerbated the environmental threat.
Most low-lying coral atoll islands will be uninhabitable by 2030, studies show. Some nations have had to prepare exit plans in anticipation of having to move some or all of their people.
Pacific Island nations release just 1.5% of carbon dioxide emissions, while G20 nations release 80%, AJ+ reports. But most G20 nations, who represent some of the world’s largest emitters, are not on track to meeting targets set by the Paris Agreement. Pacific Island nations played a key role in securing the 2015 international treaty, which aims to limit global warming to under 2°C—preferably 1.5 °C—and achieve net-zero emissions by the mid-21st century.
For Pacific Islanders, it’s a matter of survival. They could lose 70% of their land if the Paris goal goes unmet.
Even though they have the most to lose, this year is the “thinnest representation of Pacific islands at a COP ever,” Satyendra Prasad, Fiji’s ambassador to the UN, told Reuters.
Usually, all 14 Pacific heads of states are represented at the annual COP talks. This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine inequality, only a handful made it to Scotland.
Fossil fuel representatives outnumbered Pacific Island negotiators by more than 12 to 1, according to Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama.
Nevertheless, Pacific Islanders captured headlines around the world. Here are some snapshots…
- Brianna Fruean, a 23-year-old climate advocate from Samoa, opened the first day of COP26 by telling leaders, “We are not drowning, we are fighting.”
- She and other Pacific Islander youth are calling on leaders to transition from “extractive economies to regenerative economies that are recognized by Pacific cultures,” per the signed declaration.
- Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe gave his address knee deep in seawater as he stood on what used to be dry land. The striking image, accompanied by the urgency of his speech, went viral on social media.
- Speaking on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS), Marshall Islands Health Minister Bruce Bilimon emphasized that limiting global warming to 1.5°C is non-negotiable: “The G20 must lead by example.”
- PSIDS also met with the COP26 president, reiterating their call for concrete action on long-term climate financing after 2025.
- Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. told world leaders that if they don't agree to radical action, “you might as well bomb our islands.”
- At the 100,000-strong climate rally outside the summit, poet and Marshall Islands climate envoy Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner spoke fervently about faith in the face of existential threat.
- And Northern Mariana Islands House Rep. Sheila Babauta (D), a member of the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance, made clear that Pacific Islanders are not “passive victims.”
- “As the first stewards of the land and ocean, … we hold the keys to solving the issues of militarization, climate change, and climate colonialism.”
Though the world sidelined them for decades, Pacific Islanders have led the way on climate initiatives and continue to push for a bigger seat at the table.
Grassroots organizations have pursued community-based solutions rooted in Indigenous traditions, while activists press for the right to self-determination in island territories.
Governments have also collaborated on initiatives like the Micronesia Challenge, which was established in 2006 to manage marine and terrestrial resources.
“[T]he climate-justice movement must listen more carefully to those most vulnerable to the ravages of climate change,” Chamoru human rights lawyer Julian Aguon wrote in an essay for The Atlantic ahead of COP26.
“We have insights born not only of living in close harmony with the Earth but also of having survived so much already—the ravages of extractive industry, the experiments of nuclear powers. We have information vital to the project of recovering the planet’s life-support systems.”
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