Carteret Islanders Hold a Climate Change Action Day
On the eve of the climate change talks in Copenhagen, the small community of the Carteret Islands[i] held a candlelight vigil with the theme Give us a Chance to Survive – Sign Now! In doing so, they joined their brothers and sisters from across the world in a global movement committed to furthering a global solution to the climate crisis.
The vigil included music, the screening of documentaries, rallying speeches and a demonstration of the use of solar power as an environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative energy source to fossil fuels.
The vigil followed a Global Day of Climate Change Action held on 24th October 2009. Over 5,200 events were held in 181 countries. The events rallied around one theme: a fair deal at Copenhagen – a global solution to climate change based in science and justice.
While the politics of national interest played out in Copenhagen over the last two weeks, the reality of climate change continues to be felt on the ground. Tulele Peisa is continuing the difficult process of moving a substantial number of a community of 3000 from the Carteret Islands to mainland Bougainville. The process includes assisting the community to adjust, preserve their culture, establish new livelihoods, and working to educate the communities of Bougainville about climate change.
One family from the Carteret Islands, the Hasola family, have relocated to mainland Bougainville. Joseph Hasola, a father of eight children, decided to relocate because there was no longer enough land to grow food for his family. His family relocated to allow his brothers and sisters to have enough land to grow their crops. The relocation has been a success. They Hasola family has planted 5 hectares of cocoa and coconut and established piggery and poultry projects.
[i] The Carteret Islands situated eighty kilometres off mainland Bougainville.
Tags: climate change, Environment, Papua New Guinea
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 under Papua New Guinea, Recent.
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