208
R. Gard
particles would be sprayed into the atmosphere in an attempt to block solar radiation
from reaching the Earth; thus, theoretically cooling the planet (Krishnamohan et al.
2020). Troubled by this suggestion? You are not alone. As a singular resource of
mediation for communities, nations and regions in response to the climate crises,
this type of technocratic scientific approach is tremendously ambitions yet woefully
ineffective, not to mention potentially dangerous. Unsurprisingly these top-down
tactics are prone to failure as they tend to disregard the dynamic and multifaceted
interplay of cultural, psychological, spiritual, political and economic elements—
or the ethnoscapes, ideoscapes and financescapes as they have also been termed
(Appadurai 1990)—that impact response to climate change.
A risk-management approach and a wider academic discourse that integrates both
science with an appreciation of scientific understanding in the communities where
response is most needed to climate change is critical. This is especially true in Oceania
where Pacific Islanders and their communities are suffering as a result of the climate
crises (Kumar et al. 2020; McNamara et al. 2020; Scott-Parker and Kumar 2018).
In considering this troubling reality of in Oceania there is much that can be learned
from human response to risk and the role of faith, faith-based organisations and
the social dynamics associated with climate resilience. In the following sections a
consideration of climate change and extreme weather in Oceania, is exemplified in a
case study of Tropical Cyclone Winston in Fiji, with an emphasis placed on adaptive
risk-management responses and tools that embrace the role of FBOs in communities.
The remained of the chapter reflects on intuitive worldviews and the meaning of life
from a Melanesian Christian perspective. While the concluding sections culminate
in understanding risk as a social construct, community context and the critical importance of tools for engagement that offer trustworthy climate change information and
resources in an FBO setting to communities.
The Realities of Climate Change—Rising Sea Levels
and Intensified Storms
Given the current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the end of the twentyfirst Century is likely to experience a “1 meter sea level rise— [it] seems unavoidable… although there may be an increase of 2 meters” (Carr et al. 2014: 37). For
an island that is only a few meters above sea level at high tide this is an exceedingly troubling projection. Beyond this, storms can cause damaging “king tides” or
exceedingly high tides, though high tides and flooding are not the only means by
which climate change is damaging and endangering life in Oceania.
Small-islands are considered among the most vulnerable to climate change
because of their limited size, proneness to natural hazards, physical isolation, low
adaptive capacity, and high adaptation costs relative to gross domestic product. This
was highlighted in the Maldives following the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004, “which
in a matter of hours inflicted macro-economic damage on the order of 62% of the
R. Gard
particles would be sprayed into the atmosphere in an attempt to block solar radiation
from reaching the Earth; thus, theoretically cooling the planet (Krishnamohan et al.
2020). Troubled by this suggestion? You are not alone. As a singular resource of
mediation for communities, nations and regions in response to the climate crises,
this type of technocratic scientific approach is tremendously ambitions yet woefully
ineffective, not to mention potentially dangerous. Unsurprisingly these top-down
tactics are prone to failure as they tend to disregard the dynamic and multifaceted
interplay of cultural, psychological, spiritual, political and economic elements—
or the ethnoscapes, ideoscapes and financescapes as they have also been termed
(Appadurai 1990)—that impact response to climate change.
A risk-management approach and a wider academic discourse that integrates both
science with an appreciation of scientific understanding in the communities where
response is most needed to climate change is critical. This is especially true in Oceania
where Pacific Islanders and their communities are suffering as a result of the climate
crises (Kumar et al. 2020; McNamara et al. 2020; Scott-Parker and Kumar 2018).
In considering this troubling reality of in Oceania there is much that can be learned
from human response to risk and the role of faith, faith-based organisations and
the social dynamics associated with climate resilience. In the following sections a
consideration of climate change and extreme weather in Oceania, is exemplified in a
case study of Tropical Cyclone Winston in Fiji, with an emphasis placed on adaptive
risk-management responses and tools that embrace the role of FBOs in communities.
The remained of the chapter reflects on intuitive worldviews and the meaning of life
from a Melanesian Christian perspective. While the concluding sections culminate
in understanding risk as a social construct, community context and the critical importance of tools for engagement that offer trustworthy climate change information and
resources in an FBO setting to communities.
The Realities of Climate Change—Rising Sea Levels
and Intensified Storms
Given the current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the end of the twentyfirst Century is likely to experience a “1 meter sea level rise— [it] seems unavoidable… although there may be an increase of 2 meters” (Carr et al. 2014: 37). For
an island that is only a few meters above sea level at high tide this is an exceedingly troubling projection. Beyond this, storms can cause damaging “king tides” or
exceedingly high tides, though high tides and flooding are not the only means by
which climate change is damaging and endangering life in Oceania.
Small-islands are considered among the most vulnerable to climate change
because of their limited size, proneness to natural hazards, physical isolation, low
adaptive capacity, and high adaptation costs relative to gross domestic product. This
was highlighted in the Maldives following the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004, “which
in a matter of hours inflicted macro-economic damage on the order of 62% of the