Chapter 11
Paddling on Both Sides of the Canoe:
Toward a Consilience of Science
and Spirituality in Climate Change
Response
Rowan Gard
Abstract Oceania is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Policymakers and non-governmental relief organisations (NGOs) understandably focus on
science to inform and answer questions of how best communities should address the
grand challenge of climate change, yet scientific knowledge is just one component
in a range of valuable risk-management strategies. Many Pacific Islanders have deep
held spiritual beliefs that exist in a dynamic social milieu that in turn influences the
ways in which individuals and communities respond to climate events and engage
with aide relief organisations. This chapter explores aspects of faith-engaged adaptation practices in the Pacific Islands around varied responses to extreme weather
(e.g. Tropical Cyclone Winston in Fiji) and long-term climate change. To achieve
true embedded climate-change adaptation and long-term sustainable development,
a community-focused bottom-up approach is required by policymakers and NGOs,
with special consideration given to the significance of faith and faith-based organisations (FBOs) in Oceanian communities. Specifically, an integrated discourse and
risk-management approach that combines science and spirituality, much like a vaka
(Vaka or waka means “boat” or “canoe” in most Polynesian languages) or voyaging
canoe that must be paddled on both sides, is vital in the negotiation and management
of climate change in the Pacific.
Introduction
Scientific efforts to facilitate the reduction of human emissions of greenhouse gases—
carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), nitrous oxide (NO), methane (CH 4 ), and others—have had
mixed success on a wider scale, though some take a more pessimistic perspective
stating that “science has failed” in addressing the grand challenge of climate change
and initiating change in response to the crises (Finucane 2009: 1). For example,
some researchers have called for stratospheric aerosol injection, a process by which
R. Gard (B)
University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland
e-mail: arg21@st-andrews.ac.uk
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. M. Luetz and P. D. Nunn (eds.), Beyond Belief, Climate Change Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67602-5_11
207
Paddling on Both Sides of the Canoe:
Toward a Consilience of Science
and Spirituality in Climate Change
Response
Rowan Gard
Abstract Oceania is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Policymakers and non-governmental relief organisations (NGOs) understandably focus on
science to inform and answer questions of how best communities should address the
grand challenge of climate change, yet scientific knowledge is just one component
in a range of valuable risk-management strategies. Many Pacific Islanders have deep
held spiritual beliefs that exist in a dynamic social milieu that in turn influences the
ways in which individuals and communities respond to climate events and engage
with aide relief organisations. This chapter explores aspects of faith-engaged adaptation practices in the Pacific Islands around varied responses to extreme weather
(e.g. Tropical Cyclone Winston in Fiji) and long-term climate change. To achieve
true embedded climate-change adaptation and long-term sustainable development,
a community-focused bottom-up approach is required by policymakers and NGOs,
with special consideration given to the significance of faith and faith-based organisations (FBOs) in Oceanian communities. Specifically, an integrated discourse and
risk-management approach that combines science and spirituality, much like a vaka
(Vaka or waka means “boat” or “canoe” in most Polynesian languages) or voyaging
canoe that must be paddled on both sides, is vital in the negotiation and management
of climate change in the Pacific.
Introduction
Scientific efforts to facilitate the reduction of human emissions of greenhouse gases—
carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), nitrous oxide (NO), methane (CH 4 ), and others—have had
mixed success on a wider scale, though some take a more pessimistic perspective
stating that “science has failed” in addressing the grand challenge of climate change
and initiating change in response to the crises (Finucane 2009: 1). For example,
some researchers have called for stratospheric aerosol injection, a process by which
R. Gard (B)
University of St. Andrews, St. Andrews, Scotland
e-mail: arg21@st-andrews.ac.uk
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
J. M. Luetz and P. D. Nunn (eds.), Beyond Belief, Climate Change Management,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67602-5_11
207