1 Beyond Belief
11
In the final chapter of this book, Chapter 19, Clive Ayre argues that Christian
responses to climate change should not be merely pragmatic and reactive but should
embrace biblical values of restoring ecosystems and sustaining livelihoods. Casting
theology, culture and ecology as essential aspects of sustainability, the chapter offers
a summary of faith-based opportunities for a more sustainable Pacific.
Afterword
This book is not about religion, nor is it about climate change. It is about survival.
This book is intended to help inform and map effective and sustainable adaptive
pathways that will allow people in the Pacific Islands to weather the challenges of
future climate change so that, two hundred years hence, these people will still be
able to identify as unique. Today we acknowledge the uniqueness of Pacific Island
belief systems and their manifold expressions, and we acknowledge the uniqueness of Pacific Island places and that of the cultures and livelihoods they support.
All this singularity is threatened by climate change and how Pacific Island peoples
confront these threats, especially within the next twenty years, will largely determine
whether or not these peoples and the places they aspire to continue occupying are
still recognizable centuries from now.
References
Albert S, Leon JX, Grinham AR, Church JA, Gibbes BR, Woodroffe CD (2016) Interactions between
sea-level rise and wave exposure on reef island dynamics in the Solomon Islands. Environ Res
Lett 11(5):054011
Becker M, Meyssignac B, Letetrel C, Llovel W, Cazenave A, Delcroix T (2012) Sea level variations
at tropical Pacific Islands since 1950. Glob Planet Change 80–81(1):85–98
Cliff AD, Haggett P (1985) The spread of Measles in Fiji and the Pacific: Spatial components in
the transmission of epidemic waves through island communities. Australian National University,
Canberra
Cox J, Finau G, Kant R, Tarai J, Titifanue J (2018) Disaster, divine judgment, and original sin:
Christian interpretations of tropical cyclone Winston and climate change in Fiji. Contemp Pac
30(2):380–411
Ernst M (2012) Changing Christianity in Oceania: a regional overview. Archives De Sciences
Sociales Des Religions. Archives de sciences sociales des religions. https://doi.org/10.4000/assr.
23613
Ernst M, Anisi A (2016) the historical development of Christianity in Oceania. In: Sanneh L,
McClymond MJ (eds) The Wiley Blackwell companion to world Christianity. Wiley, pp 588–604.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118556115.ch44
Fair H (2018) Three stories of Noah: navigating religious climate change narratives in the Pacific
Island region. Geo Geogr Environ 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.68
Hau’ofa E (ed) (1993) Our sea of islands. University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji
Hulme M (2017) Climate change and the significance of religion. Econ Political Wkly 52(28):14–17
11
In the final chapter of this book, Chapter 19, Clive Ayre argues that Christian
responses to climate change should not be merely pragmatic and reactive but should
embrace biblical values of restoring ecosystems and sustaining livelihoods. Casting
theology, culture and ecology as essential aspects of sustainability, the chapter offers
a summary of faith-based opportunities for a more sustainable Pacific.
Afterword
This book is not about religion, nor is it about climate change. It is about survival.
This book is intended to help inform and map effective and sustainable adaptive
pathways that will allow people in the Pacific Islands to weather the challenges of
future climate change so that, two hundred years hence, these people will still be
able to identify as unique. Today we acknowledge the uniqueness of Pacific Island
belief systems and their manifold expressions, and we acknowledge the uniqueness of Pacific Island places and that of the cultures and livelihoods they support.
All this singularity is threatened by climate change and how Pacific Island peoples
confront these threats, especially within the next twenty years, will largely determine
whether or not these peoples and the places they aspire to continue occupying are
still recognizable centuries from now.
References
Albert S, Leon JX, Grinham AR, Church JA, Gibbes BR, Woodroffe CD (2016) Interactions between
sea-level rise and wave exposure on reef island dynamics in the Solomon Islands. Environ Res
Lett 11(5):054011
Becker M, Meyssignac B, Letetrel C, Llovel W, Cazenave A, Delcroix T (2012) Sea level variations
at tropical Pacific Islands since 1950. Glob Planet Change 80–81(1):85–98
Cliff AD, Haggett P (1985) The spread of Measles in Fiji and the Pacific: Spatial components in
the transmission of epidemic waves through island communities. Australian National University,
Canberra
Cox J, Finau G, Kant R, Tarai J, Titifanue J (2018) Disaster, divine judgment, and original sin:
Christian interpretations of tropical cyclone Winston and climate change in Fiji. Contemp Pac
30(2):380–411
Ernst M (2012) Changing Christianity in Oceania: a regional overview. Archives De Sciences
Sociales Des Religions. Archives de sciences sociales des religions. https://doi.org/10.4000/assr.
23613
Ernst M, Anisi A (2016) the historical development of Christianity in Oceania. In: Sanneh L,
McClymond MJ (eds) The Wiley Blackwell companion to world Christianity. Wiley, pp 588–604.
https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118556115.ch44
Fair H (2018) Three stories of Noah: navigating religious climate change narratives in the Pacific
Island region. Geo Geogr Environ 5(2). https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.68
Hau’ofa E (ed) (1993) Our sea of islands. University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji
Hulme M (2017) Climate change and the significance of religion. Econ Political Wkly 52(28):14–17