Exposing World Wide Inequalities: Oceania
Did you know that there are approximately 30,000 islands in Oceania? Oceania is a continent formed by all of the islands in the Pacific Ocean, and it has been traditionally divided into 4 regions: Australasia (which is formed by Australia and New Zealand), Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. Because this region is characterized by the union of all of these different realities, it is an understatement to say that Oceania is diverse. The Oceanic ecosystem, if there can be one defined as such, is a complex of different marine and terrestrial ecosystems, which can vary from low coral atolls to islands with high mountain ranges. The natural diversity of the region is reflected in its cultural diversity: it is sufficient to think that Papua New Guinea alone holds more than 10% of the world’s languages. This cultural diversity has been maintained mainly because of many islands’ isolated positions, which have made it difficult for Western colonizers and settlers to contaminate these realities, even though colonialism still makes up a significant part of the continent’s history. Nowadays, however, this isolation also poses a huge risk for many Pacific Islanders’ communities; with climate change and the growth of a centralized global economy, many peoples are at risk of having to give up traditional ways of living.
About Oceania
HISTORY OF THE REGION
There are over a thousand tribes in the Oceanic region. While it’s important to keep in mind that its extremely heterogeneous cultural heredity makes it difficult to explore the history of each tribe, the different areas within the continent often share a common history. New Zealand’s indigenous peoples came from Pacific Islands around 1250 CE, while Australian indigenous tribes had their roots in Indonesia or New Guinea and settled there about 50,0000 years ago. Both the different tribes in these two territories were colonized by Britain throughout the 18th and 19th century. The inhabitants of Micronesia descend from sailor tribes who populated island tolls starting from 4000 years ago, first coming into contact with the Western world in the 16th century. After initial contact, a series of periods occurred in which the Portuguese, Spanish, German, Japanese, and the U.S. colonized Micronesia. This last colonization period took place after Japan’s loss in World War II. Unfortunately, it is because of the war that starting from 1946 many Micronesian atolls were used for nuclear testing, procedures which left islands inhabitable, caused several radiation-induced health problems in near-by populations, and forced many tribes to leave their native home. Polynesia was inhabited around 2,000 years ago; from the first islands many tribes migrated and spread throughout the remaining islands in the east Pacific. Contact with the Western world started in the early 1700s but became more intense with the arrival of missionaries in 1830s. Melanesia was settled in about 500 BC. The Dutch originally visited the islands in the 17th century but Melanisians were later colonized by the British. As of today, there are 14 different territories that are independent within Oceania; these territories usually include a multitude or groups of islands.
IMPACT ON THE REGION
The impacts of climate change affect the whole region of Oceania. The rising of temperatures due to global warming has generated an increase in the frequency and in the intensity of fires in the Pacific Islands and in certain regions of Australia. Australia has warmed, on average, by more than 1.4 °C since national records began in 1910, and nine of Oceania's 10 warmest years have occurred since 2005. Moreover, around 50% of the global decline in mammal species over the last 200 years is estimated to be Australian. Sea level rise in Oceania has also made islands smaller; around Samoa a 7-17 cm rise is predicted by 2030. This increase is responsible for causing issues like erosion, loss of local biodiversity, and displacement of the inhabitants of affected islands. In the coastal village of Solosolo in Samoa, 60% of people have had to relocate due to the rising waterline.
OCEANIA’S IMPACT ON OUR PLANET
While Oceania contributes a small part of global CO2 emissions in billions of tonnes, it stands out for its significant per capita emissions, with around 10 tonnes of CO2 emitted annually by each individual. This places Oceania as the second-largest emitter on a per capita basis, trailing closely behind North America, which emits around 10.5 tonnes per capita. It is important however to highlight that those emissions mostly come from Australia and New Caledonia, with 15 tonnes and 17.6 tonnes respectively, while most of the Pacific Islands emit between 0.4 and 4.2 tonnes of CO2, with the Pacific Islands emitting around 0.03% of emissions globally. Moreover, in 2022, the continent utilized approximately 1.553 terawatt-hours of gas, coal, and oil combined, being thus the continent with the least fossil fuel consumption per terawatt-hour. This trend may reflect a growing emphasis on renewable energy sources and energy efficiency measures within the region, contributing to efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, Oceania also faces challenges regarding plastic pollution in its surrounding oceans. However, the continent's annual estimate of plastic emissions per capita stands at 0.09 kilograms, a number that is comparatively lower than other continents, such as Asia with 0.17 kilograms and North America with 0.12 kilograms.
THE EXPLOITATION OF RESOURCES IN THE REGION
The overexploitation of natural resources present in Oceania is a key factor in the notorious record of decline and extinction of local biodiversity. Oceania is globally known for having fisheries, with approximately ⅔ of the world's tuna resources being situated in the region. Beginning in the 1980s, many countries, such as China, started being more active in the area in an attempt to gain control over the production of fish. Because of this, within the next thirty years, the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Niue, and Tuvalu are expected to undergo a 50% decrease in their maximum fisheries catch. This will have important consequences on the livelihoods of the local inhabitants, since millions of people rely on fish in the region to make a living catching, selling, and buying fish. Another example of extractivism in Oceania is from the island of Nauru. Located in Micronesia, Nauru, is a small island made up of phosphate rock. The mining of phosphate started at the beginning of the last century and continued until resources were exhausted in the 1990s. The environmental loss has been extreme: most of the island is missing, leaving just a coastal ring, and pollution from mining has also devastated surrounding fisheries. Now, with limited land and damaged local fisheries, the 10,000 residents of Nauru are almost entirely dependent on imported food. Finally, the region is also known for its natural forests. The Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea are among the biggest exporters of tropical woods worldwide. However, the forestry industry is actually dominated by foreign companies, and the extraction is often done illegally and at unsustainable levels. It is estimated that the Solomon Islands exports more than 19 times a sustainable amount of timber every year. At current rates, the archipelago could even exhaust all of its natural forests by 2036, which will have a significant impact on locals, affecting the availability of resources they need to survive.
INTERCONNECTEDNESS WITH SOCIAL PROBLEMS
THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON THE INHABITANTS OF OCEANIA
Along with its impact on the environment and the exploitation of resources, the Western world’s demand for energy is a driving factor of the climate-related social crisis in the Pacific islands, where the relationship with natural resources is fundamental to the longevity of Pacific Islanders’ communities. According to the Asia Foundation, only 55% of Pacific Islanders have access to basic drinking water. This already scarce resource runs a high risk of becoming even less abundant as sea level rises; a 2000 World Bank study has found that with a 50 cm rise in sea level and a 25% decrease in average rainfall, the sizes of freshwater reserves in atolls could decrease by 65%. Also, in many pacific countries approximately 67% of structures are found within the at-risk line for sea level rise and could be submerged by high tides if sea level rising is not mitigated. In 2020 and 2021 the region experienced its hottest years; throughout this time period at least 3.5 million deaths in the Western Pacific region (which includes some countries in Asia as well, including China) were attributed to climate-related events such as droughts, floods, bushfires and heatwaves. Already only 30% of inhabitants of Pacific Islanders have access to sanitation services, and with the increasing environmental-related medical issues the sanitary crisis could be seriously aggravated. Because the Western Pacific region is significantly subjected to impact from climate change, the World Bank estimates that by 2050 around 50 million islanders and inhabitants of East Asia will be forced to flee their homelands due to climate-change, having to leave their homes and cultural heredity behind. According to a U.N. special report, because climate change is affecting migration patterns of many fish, ten Pacific Island countries could lose up to 55 million dollars a year in revenue, a toll that would devastate these small communities economically. 90% of the Pacific Islands’ coral reefs are exposed to severe degradation; they represent an important economic opportunity for communities that make profit off of tourism. Furthermore, these reefs provide ecosystems for fish that make up many fishing communities’ diets, and they also represent a natural cultural heritage for many islanders. From the lack of access to basic human rights to the possibility of losing cultural heritage transmitted through generations, Pacific Islanders and residents of Oceania are impacted by climate change in every aspect of their lives.
The islands that make up Oceania are responsible for an extremely small share of worldwide emissions, yet they’re on the frontline of the consequences of climate change. The Western world’s emissions and consumption needs, which directly fuel global warming, heavily impact regions such as Oceania which disproportionately feel the direct impact of such warming. Ecosystems are being destroyed, natural food chains are altered: an environment which has supported generations of people for millions of years is no longer able to support its inhabitants due to the extensive damages the climate crisis has caused. The crisis, furthermore, has aggravated pre-existing social problems, which heavily influence the citizens of Oceania, who are no longer able to have their basic needs met, forcing many to have to flee their own homes. A fundamental aspect of climate activism is recognizing this inequity, and realizing that our impact in one part of the world is felt globally, but most significantly from those who are farthest from us. To initiate change somewhere is to initiate change everywhere: to tackle the unjust consequences that the climate crisis has brought on the Global South it is essential to recognize the Western world’s leading contribution to this crisis, and to take responsibility for such actions.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
This is discussed further in:
AJLabs, “How Much Does Africa Contribute to Global Carbon Emissions?,” Al Jazeera, September 4, 2023, click here
Brittany Horton, “In Oceania, Fisheries are Life. And They are Disappearing. (Part 2),” December 21, 2019, Carbon Budget (2022) click here
David Tran, Josie Lee and Nick Henry. “Climate Inequality: Oceania Why we must create climate equality and a Blue Pacific for the 99%”. Published by Oxfam Australia, Oxfam Aotearoa and Oxfam in the Pacific in November 2023.
Historical background: Colonization of Pacific Islands (2024). Click here
History: Colonisation : Working with Indigenous Australians (no date). click here
ICCA Consortium (2024) | ICCA Consortium, ICCA Consortium. click here
Island and Ocean Ecosystems | Pacific Environment (no date). click here
Oceania: Islands, land, people (2010). click here
Pacific Island nations seek climate solutions outside of COP28 (no date). click here
Ramsay, R., McDonald, L. and Cox, J. (2024) 'Listening to the first responders of climate change: The social dimensions of climate change in the Pacific,' World Bank Blogs, 16 March. click here
Smith, P.M. (no date) Shared colonial history. click here
Statista (2023) Electricity sector carbon emissions APAC 2000-2021, by subregion. click here
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (2024) Oceania | Definition, Population, Maps, & Facts. click here
The Pacific Islands region (2023). click here
Wardell-Johnson, Grant W., Gunnar Keppel, and Julianne Sander. "Climate change impacts on the terrestrial biodiversity and carbon stocks of Oceania." Pacific Conservation Biology 17, no. 3 (2011): 220-240.
Who was the first European to land on 'Terra Australis'? (no date). click here
Written by Beatrice Bos & Zoé Stylios
Edited by Beatrice Bos
