15 Pacific Climate Warriors and Local Narratives on Climate …
297
Oceania is vast, Oceania is expanding, Oceania is hospitable and generous, Oceania is
humanity rising from the depths of brine and regions of fire deeper still, Oceania is us.
We are the sea, we are the ocean, we must wake up to this ancient truth and together use
it to overturn all hegemonic views that aim ultimately to confine us again, physically and
psychologically, in the tiny spaces which we have resisted accepting as our sole appointed
place, and from which we have recently liberated ourselves. We must not allow anyone to
belittle us again, and take away our freedom. (Hau’ofa 1994, p. 16)
Nonetheless, I argue that the activists strategically use a ‘negative’ rhetoric and
the attention given to them by the Western media and organizations to reach their
aim (in the same way that other organizations like Greenpeace do). This aim consists
in creating awareness among Pacific and non-Pacific people about climate change
and environmental problems in the Pacific Islands region which threaten their livelihoods. Or, put differently, the Pacific Climate Warriors actively utilize this newly
achieved attention as a launchpad to make their voices heard in international fora
and specialized meetings. They travel all around the world and often take part in
world fora such as COPs (Conference of the Parties) to improve international public
understanding of the local impacts of climate change.
It is very interesting to note that all these activists mostly come from decolonized
countries within the Pacific Islands region. In fact, it is due to their political status
that they can communicate widely and effectively and coordinate with other Englishspeaking communities. On the other hand, as observed by Ferdinand (2018), it is
hard for the French Overseas Territories
3 —which stand in a political ‘in-between’,
neither able to become independent States nor to be a full part of France—to access
international funding allotted for Small Islands Developing States (SIDS).
For instance, according to my experience in New Caledonia—which continues to
be a French colony—it is the lack of activists and mediatic power which weakens
communication with other communities involved.
In general, the linguistic barrier is certainly an issue. English and French, as old
colonial heritage, are still among the official languages of numerous Pacific Island
States and facilitate communication among groups who speak different vernaculars.
Yet, very often they are a hurdle between English-speaking and French-speaking
communities, further hindering the capacity for transnational network building.
Pacific Climate Warriors can be identified as passeurs culturels (Favole and Aria
2010) or social actors on the edge of two worlds that can move through different
borders and different universes of meaning. The majority of the Warriors now lives
in Australia and New Zealand, even if their country of origin is a ‘large ocean state’—
such as Samoa or Tokelau—as in the term coined by Ronny Jumeau (2013). These
multiple identifications (Kempf and Hermann 2014) of the activists make evident
their capacity to behave and act as Pacific Islanders and at the same time their ability to
appropriate exogenous discourses and images and putting them in a new form. Their
exposure in Western countries, such as Australia, New Zealand or even the west coast
of the United States, contributes to the making of their consciousness and activism,
not to mention the importance these links have in reconnecting old transnational
3 For the same reason, there are no 350 Pacific local branches neither in Wallis and Futuna nor in
French Polynesia, other French Territories in the Pacific Islands region.
297
Oceania is vast, Oceania is expanding, Oceania is hospitable and generous, Oceania is
humanity rising from the depths of brine and regions of fire deeper still, Oceania is us.
We are the sea, we are the ocean, we must wake up to this ancient truth and together use
it to overturn all hegemonic views that aim ultimately to confine us again, physically and
psychologically, in the tiny spaces which we have resisted accepting as our sole appointed
place, and from which we have recently liberated ourselves. We must not allow anyone to
belittle us again, and take away our freedom. (Hau’ofa 1994, p. 16)
Nonetheless, I argue that the activists strategically use a ‘negative’ rhetoric and
the attention given to them by the Western media and organizations to reach their
aim (in the same way that other organizations like Greenpeace do). This aim consists
in creating awareness among Pacific and non-Pacific people about climate change
and environmental problems in the Pacific Islands region which threaten their livelihoods. Or, put differently, the Pacific Climate Warriors actively utilize this newly
achieved attention as a launchpad to make their voices heard in international fora
and specialized meetings. They travel all around the world and often take part in
world fora such as COPs (Conference of the Parties) to improve international public
understanding of the local impacts of climate change.
It is very interesting to note that all these activists mostly come from decolonized
countries within the Pacific Islands region. In fact, it is due to their political status
that they can communicate widely and effectively and coordinate with other Englishspeaking communities. On the other hand, as observed by Ferdinand (2018), it is
hard for the French Overseas Territories
3 —which stand in a political ‘in-between’,
neither able to become independent States nor to be a full part of France—to access
international funding allotted for Small Islands Developing States (SIDS).
For instance, according to my experience in New Caledonia—which continues to
be a French colony—it is the lack of activists and mediatic power which weakens
communication with other communities involved.
In general, the linguistic barrier is certainly an issue. English and French, as old
colonial heritage, are still among the official languages of numerous Pacific Island
States and facilitate communication among groups who speak different vernaculars.
Yet, very often they are a hurdle between English-speaking and French-speaking
communities, further hindering the capacity for transnational network building.
Pacific Climate Warriors can be identified as passeurs culturels (Favole and Aria
2010) or social actors on the edge of two worlds that can move through different
borders and different universes of meaning. The majority of the Warriors now lives
in Australia and New Zealand, even if their country of origin is a ‘large ocean state’—
such as Samoa or Tokelau—as in the term coined by Ronny Jumeau (2013). These
multiple identifications (Kempf and Hermann 2014) of the activists make evident
their capacity to behave and act as Pacific Islanders and at the same time their ability to
appropriate exogenous discourses and images and putting them in a new form. Their
exposure in Western countries, such as Australia, New Zealand or even the west coast
of the United States, contributes to the making of their consciousness and activism,
not to mention the importance these links have in reconnecting old transnational
3 For the same reason, there are no 350 Pacific local branches neither in Wallis and Futuna nor in
French Polynesia, other French Territories in the Pacific Islands region.