Climate Change and the Rugby World Cup
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World in disunion: Climate change and the Rugby World Cup September 2019 2 World in disunion: Climate change and the Rugby World Cup: Authors: Dr Katherine Kramer Joe Ware Christian Aid is a Christian organisation that insists the world can and must be swiftly changed to one where everyone can live a full life, free from poverty. We work globally for profound change that eradicates the causes of poverty, striving to achieve equality, dignity and freedom for all, regardless of faith or nationality. We are part of a wider movement for social justice. We provide urgent, practical and effective assistance where need is great, tackling the effects of poverty as well as its root causes. christianaid.org.uk Contact us Christian Aid 35 Lower Marsh Waterloo London SE1 7RL T: +44 (0) 20 7620 4444 E: [email protected] W: christianaid.org.uk UK registered charity no. 1105851 Company no. 5171525 Scot charity no. SC039150 NI charity no. XR94639 Company no. NI059154 ROI charity no. CHY 6998 Company no. 426928 The Christian Aid name and logo are trademarks of Christian Aid © Christian Aid World in disunion: Climate change and the Rugby World Cup: 3 Cover: A man wearing a Fijian rugby shirt wades through floodwater in downtown Nadi, Fiji. Photograph: Cometstyles Contents https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nadi_town.jpg Summary 4 1. Pacific rugby: a sinking feeling 5 2. Climate change and the Pacific islands 7 3. Some of the main culprints are playing at the 10 World Cup 4. A victory for all? 13 Leaders of Pacific nations gather in Tuvalu in August 2019 (Photo: Pacific Islands Forum) 4 World in disunion: Climate change and the Rugby World Cup: Summary The effects of climate change are already hitting around the world and the Pacific islands are among the worst affected. But unless greenhouse gas emissions fall, the consequences in the coming decades will be far worse than anything seen so far. Fiji, Samoa and Tonga face an onslaught as the world warms. Hotter and more acidic oceans, due to higher levels of carbon dioxide, kill coral reefs upon which fish populations depend, while rising sea levels will swallow land, increase flooding and salinate water supplies. The region is also likely to experience more category 3 to 5 storms, such as last year’s Cyclone Gita which was the strongest tropical cyclone to hit Tonga since records began. Together these climate change impacts threaten to undermine the islands’ economies, deter tourists, making life increasingly tough and driving young people away, putting strain on the countries’ ability to field competitive rugby teams. Researchers warn of mass migration from the islands as a result of climate change in the coming decades. Alongside the Pacific island countries at the Rugby World Cup are some of the countries most responsible for the climate crisis. Major greenhouse gas polluters like the US, Australia, the hosts Japan, Russia, Canada, South Africa and the European nations will play at the tournament, to the tune of a world in union. But few, if any, of the most polluting competitors have credible plans to cut their emissions to safe levels - suggesting the World Cup’s theme song is just an empty promise. It is not too late to prevent dangerous climate change and to save the future for the Pacific islands, and the rest of the world. But it requires immediate action to cut emissions. Samoan-born England and Lions international, Manu Tuilagi (Photo: Mitch Gunn/ Shutterstock.com) World in disunion: Climate change and the Rugby World Cup: 5 1. Pacific rugby: a sinking feeling Pacific Island names are a familiar sight on rugby team-sheets. The power, pace and skill of players with roots in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga are one of the glories of the modern game, and account for an estimated 20% of all professional players in terms of heritage.1 Tongan winger Lesley Vainikolo became the first Pacific Islander to wear the Red Rose in 2008. Now no-one thinks twice when Polynesian players turn out for England - or in the case of Talupe Faletau - Wales and the Lions. These small islands in the Pacific have grown men who have revolutionised the game. Think Jonah Lomu - the Tongan All Black who shredded defences at the 1995 World Cup. Think Kevin Mealamu - born in New Zealand to Samoan parents - with 122 All Black caps - one of a rich seam of Islanders to wear the silver fern. Think too Tana Umaga, Olo Brown, Jerome Kaino, Mils Muliaina and the blistering speedster Joe Rokocoko. Or the great Sir Michael Jones, the Samoan All Black number 7 who dominated the 1980s. England’s World Cup squad included four players of Pacific Island heritage - Manu Tuilagi, Joe Cokanasiga, Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola. They are part of rugby’s rich cultural fabric which has embraced hundreds of players from Pacific shores across all major leagues. Likewise, no-one was surprised when Australia’s Wallabies fielded a 34-strong squad in June 2017, 19 of whom had Pacific Island heritage. For all these islands have given the game of rugby, there is an increasing sense they are receiving precious little in return. Recently World Rugby grudgingly backtracked on a 12-team Nations Cup that would have excluded Pacific teams. But this was merely the latest slight. If the public adore Pacific players, major Unions appear indifferent. Ahead of an England v Samoa game in 2017 it became evident that while the home team would pick up handsome payments for the game, their opponents would earn virtually nothing.2 Very few internationals are ever played in the Pacific. No Pacific teams have been invited to join the major Southern Hemisphere competitions. If rugby’s moral crisis when it comes to the Pacific islands is self- evident, its ignorance of the deeper climate crisis is marked. The 6 World in disunion: Climate change and the Rugby World Cup: future of three of its major countries is at stake - the UN reports that beaches in Fiji once used for training are now being swallowed up by the ocean.3 The culture of Pacific Island rugby is at risk of sinking under rising tides and increasingly severe storms. The response from global authorities to this has been weak and slow. World Rugby recently signed up to a global sustainability charter,4 yet has been lamentably quiet on the climate crisis. Rugby's major nations have a role to play in tackling this crisis. Europe, the US, Australia and Japan are all major coal users. Players of Pacific Island origin will proudly pull on the shirt of many of them at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Just as the world marvelled at Fiji’s historic 2016 Olympic Sevens Gold medal, so it should note the power and pace of the climate crisis. That or one day face a World Cup without any of those famous nations. Former Samoan rugby international Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu is clear where the blame lies: “Greed is destroying the planet and in my mind, it’s destroying rugby”.5 Two Fijian players struggle to tackle Australia’s Julian Huxley while his Fijian- born teammate Lote Tuqiri watches on (Photo: Paolo Bona / Shutterstock.com) World in disunion: Climate change and the Rugby World Cup: 7 2. Climate change and the Pacific islands Human emissions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are increasing global temperatures and making weather patterns more extreme. Scientists project that, unless these emissions fall rapidly, changes over the coming decades will cause increasing damage to people, economies and nature.6 While these changes have already started hitting people around the world, including those in rich countries, the Pacific islands are among the worst affected. Sea-level rise means loss of land As global temperatures increase, the world’s oceans are rising as a result of melting ice and the expansion of sea water as it warms. Sea levels have already risen by more than 20cm since the Industrial Revolution and, unless emissions fall, they will rise increasingly quickly over the coming decades.7 Scientists project that, without emission cuts, global sea levels will rise by about 34cm by 2050, by about a metre by 2100 and by about 1.8m by 2150.8 The Pacific islands are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of sea-level rise. Sea levels do not rise at the same rate worldwide, and the oceans around some of the islands, such as Suva in Fiji, have been rising roughly three times higher than the global average.9 One study has shown that eleven islands across the northern Solomon Islands have either totally disappeared over recent decades or are currently experiencing severe erosion.10 Since much of the islands are near sea level, the rising oceans will mean the loss of land to regular flooding and to being permanently swallowed by the waves. Much of the Pacific islands’ population and infrastructure are near the coast (for example, 70% of the Samoan population is in low-lying areas)11 and so are particularly vulnerable to flooding and erosion of land.12 The climate crisis has already forced some residents of Fiji, Samoa and Tonga to move from their homes.131415 Among the land being lost is at the Fijian village of Namatakula, home to some of the country’s top players.16 Salination of water supply threatens livelihood and agriculture The loss of land is not the only reason sea-level rise is a threat to islands like Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. With higher sea levels, water supplies more often become contaminated with salt, meaning residents may be unable to rely on the water for drinking, washing and cooking.17 This would be a particular problem for people on the smaller islands within these countries.18 With continued climate change, coastal erosion and contamination of groundwater by saltwater intrusion risk making soils unusable for 8 World in disunion: Climate change and the Rugby World Cup: agriculture.