I just want to be myself: Rethinking Pacific climate change adaptation Janie Ruth Walker A thesis submitted to Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Master of Development Studies School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences Victoria University of Wellington 2019 Cover photo: A jandal, a coconut, modern, traditional: both valued. All photos were taken by the author, except where otherwise stated. ii Prologue I talk about the moonbow I saw at night, in the middle of our vast ocean. This is good luck, they say, and we are lost in phenomena and ways of knowing the ocean that connects us. Ratu had told me that after our conversation that the ‘Va’ space between us had diminished. As I consider what he means, I walk through the Suva streets to the bus depot. It’s so hot: I’m sticky and uncomfortable. The bus arrives and I clamber on, across the debris of paper bus tickets in the gutter; my too many bags getting in the way, thoughts shut out from the loud beats of the bus. A young girl stares. I smile, too keen. She waits. I turn and look out the window at the harbour clogged with wrecks and foreign ships. I look at the girl again and wait until the space between us opens. (Author’s personal journal, 2018). iii iv Abstract Climate change is now being presented as the biggest future threat to humanity. Many people living in the Pacific Islands are experiencing this threat through the extreme negative impacts of climate change without largely having produced the human-induced causes. The Fijian Government has brought this Pacific narrative to global attention and seeks to utilise additional funding and resources to support Fijians affected by climate change. The 2010 Cancun Adaptation Framework mandates that adapting to the impacts of climate change must now receive the same priority as mitigating the rate of long- term global warming. One mechanism for delivering climate change adaptation in the Pacific is the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation into the Fiji Government’s current concentration for progress in development. Responses to this concentration for progress are mixed: some consider that this strategy has and will deliver good results for Fijians, and some feel this strategy is incongruous with a Pacific way of thinking. The ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change depend on the nature and level of development. This thesis contributes to discussion on the linkages between adaptation and development by exploring the question, ‘To what extent do local community concerns, with regard to climate, inform adaptation policy and outcomes in Eastern Fiji?’ The findings from five months of cross-context research in Fiji indicate that there is room for improvement in adaptation policy and outcomes so that the best features of the Pacific can be protected. A journey through Pacific ways of knowing and doing may offer guidance in how adaptation can be adjusted. Key words: impacts of climate change, Pacific climate change adaptation, adaptive capacity, local development, community development, community-adaptation, Pacific epistemology. 1 2 Acknowledgements Vinaka vakalevu (thank you very much): To everyone I met in Suva, Levuka, Arovudi, Taviya, Bureta and Nawaikama. You are wonderful people; My partner Dean for your incredible support, and also Geoff Walker and Sue Reidy; My supervisor Professor Warwick Murray for your brilliance and faith in me; Professor John Overton for your expertise and love of the Pacific; The Government of Fiji: Ministry of Education for approval to do this research; Joeli Veitayaki and Vijay Naidu (The University of the South Pacific, Fiji) for your inspiring work; Una Bicinivalu for sharing your stories; Salote Manu and Chinnamma Reddy for your friendship and sharing your families with me; Teweiariki Teaero for the use of your poem, Join Me; My fellow students, especially Matthew Scott, Lorena De la Torre Parra, and Sylvia Lima for your wonderful support; And all the other thinkers and doers whose thoughts and actions have sailed in and out of this thesis. 3 Contents Prologue ...................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 1 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 3 List of abbreviations .................................................................................................... 6 Glossary ....................................................................................................................... 7 List of tables and figures .............................................................................................. 8 Chapter one: Introduction – seeking new shores .................................................... 9 Motivations for this research .................................................................................. 10 Research aims ......................................................................................................... 11 Chapter breakdown ................................................................................................ 11 Chapter two: Methodology – plotting the course ................................................... 13 Pacificscape: a conceptual framework ................................................................... 14 Methods: cross-context research and Va conversations ......................................... 21 Terminology, selections and positionality ............................................................. 27 Summary ................................................................................................................ 33 Chapter three: Background – setting sail .............................................................. 36 Climate change’s significance, mechanisms and impacts ...................................... 36 The Pacific context ................................................................................................. 37 Adaptation: an equal response to mitigation .......................................................... 39 Regional, national and local frameworks ........................................................... 40 Adaptation approaches and processes ................................................................ 43 The linkages between adaptation and development ............................................... 49 Fiji’s development profile and considerations .................................................... 50 Pacific aid and climate change ........................................................................... 52 Mainstreaming adaptation into development ..................................................... 55 The impacts of climate change on development, and vice versa ........................ 56 Adaptation’s narrow focus.................................................................................. 61 Local voices and adaptation ............................................................................... 62 Summary ................................................................................................................ 64 Chapter four: Va conversations – resetting the sails ............................................. 66 Ovalau Island.......................................................................................................... 66 Gau Island .............................................................................................................. 77 Climate change concerns .................................................................................... 78 Summary ................................................................................................................ 84 4 Chapter five: Discussion – laying the anchor ......................................................... 85 Policy informed by local concerns ......................................................................... 85 Adjusting adaptation policy .................................................................................... 97 Adaptation as opportunity to rethink development .............................................. 100 Summary............................................................................................................... 104 Chapter six: Conclusion – arrival ......................................................................... 106 Fostering community-adaptation through Pacific epistemology .......................... 107 Further research .................................................................................................... 116 Closing thoughts ................................................................................................... 117 Epilogue ................................................................................................................... 120 References ................................................................................................................ 121 Appendices ............................................................................................................... 137 Appendix A: Pacificscape audio visual expression .............................................. 137 Appendix B: Va Conversations ............................................................................ 147 Appendix C: Information sheet for participants