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Climate action Climate action

• Provide economic relief directly to the people. Mission and Research are leading the discourse on seeking so-
• Help our workers and communities, not corporate execu- lutions to resolve the ‘ecological crisis’ facing Pacific Islanders
tives. especially its indigenous populations. Aptly called Reweaving
• Create resilience for future crises. the Ecological Mat, in collaboration with civil society organi-
• Build solidarity and community across borders – do not sations and academic institutions like the University of the
empower authoritarians. South Pacific, it is building the foundations of an Ecological
Framework for Development that will guide its engagements
Churches Lead on Climate Action with its members and offer governments alternatives on
The church has always been a source of hope and help for development.
Pacific Islanders, including the Pacific diaspora in countries In April this year, with the double threats to livelihoods
such as Australia, New Zealand and the United States. When from COVID-19 and Severe Tropical Cyclone Harold, the PCC
it comes to climate change, I’ve learnt from Reverend James established its ‘Food Bank and Urban Farm’ in the heart of
Bhagwan, General Secretary of the Pacific Conference of Suva City, as a model for replication in other Pacific countries.
Churches (PCC), that churches have been saying the same As the food is harvested it will be offered for free at a road-
things scientists have about climate change, long before it hit side stall. Some of the crops will be distributed to informal
the mainstream. squatter settlements, homes for the destitute and aged care
As far back as 2004, the PCC met in Kiribati to discuss the facilities.
effects of climate change on island nations, and produced Member churches have followed suit and utilised resources
the Otin Tai declaration, calling on industrialised nations to available under this initiative, including accessing training,
reduce fossil fuel use, acknowledge responsibility for climate seedlings and farming equipment to encourage communities
change, and provide more adaptation funding, among other to help themselves. The Tongan and Vanuatu national councils
things. of churches have asked for support to form similar food banks
Five years later, the PCC released the Moana Declaration and money will be sent to facilitate these requests.
which then led to the establishment of a Climate Change Unit As Pacific Islanders, just like our faith, we share similar
within the PCC to push for the inclusion of climate change challenges and are resilient to help ourselves, when our gov-
into sermons across the Pacific Region, and engage in more ernments are not in a position to do so. It is through building
constructive dialogue with those most affected by climate solidarity across existing structures that we can face both the
change. climate crisis and the global pandemic, and we don’t have to
look far for living examples of how to do it.
Practise What You Preach
A Proverb which resonates well with what what the PCC is Patricia Mallam is the Senior Communications Specialist at
doing amidst the backdrop of gloom and chaos is: 350 Pacific
“Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach him how to
fish, and you feed him for a lifetime” patricia.mallam@350.org
The PCC and the Pacific Theological College’s Institute of

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