Vanuatu & Climate Change, Key Aspects YouTube Lecture Handouts

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Blob: Heat Waves - Losing Murres! Pacific Waters Turning Deadly|Is it Climate Change?

Vanuatu & Climate Change

Illustration: Vanuatu & Climate Change
  • Vanuatu may be one of the lowest greenhouse gas emitters in the world. It is one of the most vulnerable countries when it comes to the impacts of climate change. The frequency and intensity of natural disasters like cyclones, earthquakes, and droughts in Vanuatu have increased in recent years. Between 1969 and 2010, Vanuatu has seen an average of two to three cyclones per season. The recent dreadful hit was Cyclone Pam in 2015, displacing almost 75,000 people and causing further incalculable damage to the economy. Cyclone Pam, which hit Vanuatu in 2015, has clearly demonstrated this, affecting 64% of the economy and 60% of the population as well as destroying 96% of food crops.
  • Vanuatu is an archipelago of approximately 80 volcanic islands with 2.2 lakh population
  • 80% protein comes from sea. With coral, bleaching fishes are scarce.
  • In 2011, the United Nations reported that the first climate change refugees in history were from a small island in northern Vanuatu. Residents in the village of Lataw in the Torres Islands had to move their homes hundreds of metres back from the shore.
Illustration: Vanuatu & Climate Change
  • More than 80% of the country՚s population derives their livelihoods from weather sensitive industries like tourism, fisheries and agriculture
  • With no social security and free education, the citizens of Vanuatu have minimal economic support when emergencies strike. Vanuatu is also well known for its tax-friendly regime, especially for offshore investors, while the locals can only aspire to employment at the very low-paid level.
  • Heat-related illness, malnutrition, water-borne diseases, heart related sickness and mental health are reported as crucial risks
  • According to a report published by International Organization for Migration, one in every 45 individuals on the planet will have been uprooted by climate change by 2050.

Key Aspects

Illustration: Key Aspects
  • 1 coconut tree – 0.1 liter fuel that is hour TV program
  • 100 mangroves seedling only 6 survive
  • Fishes getting extinct and now shifting to resilient pig farming with German collaboration
  • Rising population, improper human waste disposal compounded with climate change
  • Building sea walls and planting vetiver grass, which is used to stop soil erosion
  • Root vegetables such as taro, yams, and sweet potato are a key part of diet, alongside seasonal fruit trees like breadfruit, papaya, mangoes, avocados, and coconut palms. However, farming is becoming harder as rising sea levels cause the soil to turn salty, killing off the crops.

Climate Change

Illustration: Climate Change
  • Sea level near Vanuatu has risen by about 6mm per year since 1993, which is larger than the global average of 2.8 - 3.6 mm per year.
  • Disappearing villages with rising sea – places of football are now places of floating boats
  • The powerful storms that tear through the Pacific are becoming more intense and more unpredictable. Extended droughts make staple crops harder to grow and food more expensive. Lost income is driving migration away from land that had supported families for generations
  • In 2018, Fiji developed national guidelines on relocating villages, and Vanuatu created policies governing disaster displacement caused by climate change – some of the first countries in the world to do so.
  • However, the question of who will pay for climate loss and damages in the world՚s most vulnerable nations – countries least responsible for their causes – remains.
  • The Green Climate Fund, the main pool for climate financing, has only allocated $ 23 million to Vanuatu, channeled through a single project. In contrast, the government estimates the damage from a single storm, Cyclone Harold, exceeded the equivalent of $ 440 million.

Mayank