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starting to be recognized, especially in a situation where the rate of sea-level rise is
accelerating (Morris et al. 2018; Pearson et al. 2020).
There is also a temporal dimension to this, which has been detected in studies
of relocation elsewhere in Fiji (Piggott-McKellar et al. 2019b, c), that involves
the overcoming of community leaders’ resistance to relocation. In some situations
outside Ono, it has been claimed that only the passing of elderly leaders who
refused to contemplate relocation could open the door to this relocation. Although
we did not hear such sentiments openly expressed on Ono Island, we did hear
numerous complaints about the difficulties of persuading elderly decision-makers
of the growing need to relocate and the advantages of beginning this process sooner
rather than at the last minute, when the need would be clear to everyone.
Discussion: Spiritual Beliefs and Climate Change
In culturally-grounded societies like those on Ono Island, extraneous livelihood stressors like climate change are viewed through three lenses, sometimes separately, sometimes in combination. These lenses are religious, secular-scientific, and traditionalcultural. To different degrees, each has a role in the development and implementation
of responses.
Religious Beliefs
Like other Pacific Island contexts, especially rural ones, the majority of people on
Ono Island consider that climate change has a divine cause and that an important
response is to pray and become more pious. We were part of several conversations in
which island residents discussed what might have caused God’s anger in this regard
and how this might be lessened. For example,
Not respecting the religious belief and that’s how the God is cursing the land. With the
changing weather, the climate change that’s happening around, we really need to make sure
all children are looked after well, especially with the sea level rising. (Narikoso, young male)
It is important to note that climate change is not a unique stressor in this regard;
for most of the time that Christian belief systems have influenced Pacific Islander
worldviews, undesired environmental changes have been attributed to divine anger
and solutions developed and implemented accordingly (Rubow and Bird 2016;
Haluza-DeLay 2014).
Two recent studies of the (Christian) Biblical story of Noah and the way it has
influenced climate-change perceptions in the Pacific Islands are illuminating in this
regard (Fair 2018; Kempf 2017). While diverse and nuanced in different Pacific Island
contexts, the essence of the story of Noah—that he and his family survived a global
flood, in the aftermath of which God promised never to flood the Earth again—in most
J. Atkinson-Nolte et al.
starting to be recognized, especially in a situation where the rate of sea-level rise is
accelerating (Morris et al. 2018; Pearson et al. 2020).
There is also a temporal dimension to this, which has been detected in studies
of relocation elsewhere in Fiji (Piggott-McKellar et al. 2019b, c), that involves
the overcoming of community leaders’ resistance to relocation. In some situations
outside Ono, it has been claimed that only the passing of elderly leaders who
refused to contemplate relocation could open the door to this relocation. Although
we did not hear such sentiments openly expressed on Ono Island, we did hear
numerous complaints about the difficulties of persuading elderly decision-makers
of the growing need to relocate and the advantages of beginning this process sooner
rather than at the last minute, when the need would be clear to everyone.
Discussion: Spiritual Beliefs and Climate Change
In culturally-grounded societies like those on Ono Island, extraneous livelihood stressors like climate change are viewed through three lenses, sometimes separately, sometimes in combination. These lenses are religious, secular-scientific, and traditionalcultural. To different degrees, each has a role in the development and implementation
of responses.
Religious Beliefs
Like other Pacific Island contexts, especially rural ones, the majority of people on
Ono Island consider that climate change has a divine cause and that an important
response is to pray and become more pious. We were part of several conversations in
which island residents discussed what might have caused God’s anger in this regard
and how this might be lessened. For example,
Not respecting the religious belief and that’s how the God is cursing the land. With the
changing weather, the climate change that’s happening around, we really need to make sure
all children are looked after well, especially with the sea level rising. (Narikoso, young male)
It is important to note that climate change is not a unique stressor in this regard;
for most of the time that Christian belief systems have influenced Pacific Islander
worldviews, undesired environmental changes have been attributed to divine anger
and solutions developed and implemented accordingly (Rubow and Bird 2016;
Haluza-DeLay 2014).
Two recent studies of the (Christian) Biblical story of Noah and the way it has
influenced climate-change perceptions in the Pacific Islands are illuminating in this
regard (Fair 2018; Kempf 2017). While diverse and nuanced in different Pacific Island
contexts, the essence of the story of Noah—that he and his family survived a global
flood, in the aftermath of which God promised never to flood the Earth again—in most