Raising Awareness

Awareness of Climate Change in the Pacific is low

Despite the fact that Pacific Island countries are at the fore front of climate change impacts, levels of awareness on climate change, or global warming remain low.

A WWF survey in 2004, in Kabara (in the Lau Group of Fiji Islands) for example found that up to 99% of the community had never heard of the terms climate change or global warming before.

© WWF SPPO.

On Kabara, the coastline is slowly creeping up on villages and settlements, forcing people to move to higher ground. Many still do not know why this is happening.

This does not mean that climate change is not happening! Pacific Island people depend very much on their natural resources, often for their very survival, and communities from around the Pacific are already reporting many stories of climate change impacts . Farmers in the Cook Islands, for example, have reported changes in their growing seasons, as breadfruit and mangoes are flowering earlier than normal, while communities in Fiji are concerned that dry periods are growing longer, with less rain available for drinking water. [link to Climate Witness to read these stories?]

What WWF is doing

WWF is working to raise the awarness of Pacific Island communities, not only on what causes climate change and how it may impact upon the livelihoods of Pacific Island people, but also on what actions we can take to deal with it - from reducing our climate changing gas emissions to increasing our resilience to these impacts.

To raise awareness, WWF South Pacific continues to develop educational and awareness materials on climate change.

» See more publications

WWF also works with schools, civil society groups and communities on public outreach events, to raise awareness on this issue, across the Pacific.

Related Article:

» Workshop: Raising Awareness in the Cook Islands