Category Archives: News

Human health in a warmer future

What effect will climate change have on health in the Pacific? ABC News Australia environment journalist Sarah Clarke is exploring this question in a five-part series for the ABC…

With climate change forecasts showing the Pacific will face hotter days and more extreme weather in the future, climate scientists and medical authorities say the implications could be serious for human health.

The (Australian) Federal Government’s Climate Commission is predicting a warmer Pacific will produce more heart attacks, strokes, exhaustion and more heat-related deaths.

Pacific countries are already copping the brunt of climate change, with water and food problems causing displacement.

The report also says there is the potential for a greater spread of disease transmitting mosquitoes as rainfall patterns change.

“It’s not only mosquitoes that will thrive in warmer and wetter conditions but it will also be influenced by their natural host populations before they spill over into humans,” he said.

Read the full story at abc.net.au/news

Tarawa water reserve back online

Press release, Tarawa, January 3, 2012

South Tarawa’s ground water supply has increased by approximately 20 per cent thanks to a joint operation between the Public Utilities Board (PUB) and the Kiribati Adaptation Program – Phase III (KAPIII).

The Buota Water Reserve was successfully re-opened recently after more than one year of inactivity due to a loss of power and vandalism to the site.

PUB Chief Executive Officer Kevin Rouatu said the connection was first severed when the Tanaea Bridge collapsed in June 2008.

“In September 2009, the United States Navy installed a new bridge across the Buota-Tanaea channel and the Kiribati Adaptation Program – Phase II re-laid new pipes for the water connection in 2010,” Mr Rouatu said.

During the time the water reserve was offline, Mr Rouatu said much of the pumping infrastructure was vandalised making it necessary to replace and rehabilitate all of the pumping chambers as well as relaying the pipes.

“The vandalism stopped the power to the site, which meant the six water pumps at the reserve could not be used to extract water,” he said.

“To restore the power, KAPIII funded a transformer and T-switch, which arrived by ship in late July.

“Now four of the six pumps are in working order and the Bouta site can supplement the water we get from the reserve at Bonriki.”

The water reserves at Bonriki and Buota are the only water reserves providing groundwater to South Tarawa, KAPIII Project Manager Kautuna Kaitara said.

“The Buota Water Reserve has the capacity to provide about 300 cubic metres of water per day, the equivalent to 1500 200l ‘te turam’,” Mr Kaitara said.

South Tarawa’s other water reserve at Bonriki provides 1600 cubic metres per day.

“As Buota is the second main source of ground water for the people of South Tarawa we want to work well with the people of Buota to ensure its’ ongoing success.

“Bonriki has been over-pumped and now we can reduce the extraction rate to prevent damage to the water lenses and equipment.

“If we lose the water reserves at Bonriki and Buota, we lose the only reasonably safe drinking water for the people of Betio and South Tarawa.

“So protection of these water reserves is critical for the liveability of Betio and South Tarawa and the health of all that live here.

“This includes minimising pollution, animals, agriculture and sand mining in the area to ensure the water remains healthy enough for human consumption.”

Australian High Commission First Secretary Lydia Bezeruk said Australia was proud to be co-financing KAPIII and supporting the repair of the Buota Water Reserve.

“It’s important that we understand that water is a precious commodity, in South Tarawa in particular,” Ms Bezeruk said.

“Most of the water reserves have been polluted and are beyond repair, which is why maintaining the effective functioning of reserves such as Buota and Bonriki is critical.”

Facts about KAPIII

The Kiribati Adaptation Program- Phase III (KAPIII) is a five-year project under the Office of the President and funded via the World Bank GEF LDCF Trust Fund with co financing from the governments of Australia and Japan, the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery partnership, as well as in-kind from the Government of Kiribati.

The objective of KAPIII is to improve the resilience of Kiribati to the impacts of climate change on freshwater supply and coastal infrastructure.

Freshwater supply projects from 2012 to 2016 include working closely with the MPWU and PUB to manage assets and provide training to staff, the installation of four new rainwater harvesting works and two infiltration gallery works in North and South Tarawa, the detection and repair of leaks in the groundwater pipe system from Buota to Betio and the rehabilitation of the Buota Water Reserve.

Why Tarawa needs water reserves

Q&A With Kiribati Adaptation Program – Phase III Project Manager Kautuna Kaitara

What is a water reserve?

A water reserve is an area of land that is reserved for the extraction of water. That is, no other activities are allowed on this land except pumping of water.

What is the purpose of a water reserve?

The purpose of declaring a water reserve is to minimise pollution of the water in this area. Water reserves are common throughout the world – in Australia the catchment areas for dams are normally some sort of reserve area.

Why is it important to have water reserves in Kiribati?

In Kiribati it is extremely important because we only have very limited water treatment and to provide additional treatment would be extremely expensive in terms of both initial outlay and operating expenses.

We want people to be healthy and have healthy drinking water. That’s why it is important to stop people toileting on the land, and pigs and other livestock using the land because that can introduce potentially very harmful bacteria. Agricultural activities, such as growing of vegetables, can also introduce harmful chemicals such as nitrates.

These aren’t the only issues. The mining of sand and gravel from the area can introduce pollutants in the process, and leaves the lens much more vulnerable because it removes a layer of protection of the water. Industrial and other activities, such as fixing of cars and letting cars die on the reserves, can also introduce very harmful chemicals and petrochemicals.

Why is ground water on South Tarawa polluted?

Given that the population density of South Tarawa is so high, and polluting activities take place on almost all the land of South Tarawa, the water lens underlying South Tarawa is extremely polluted and is not suitable for human consumption, probably even after boiling. There used to be water reserves at Betio and Teaoreareke as well as Buota and Bonriki, but the first two had to be abandoned due to population growth. The water reserves are 50-metres or more inland from the edge of the land so you would need considerable overtopping before they are affected and there are people living on the edge who will be affected long before climate change affects the water reserves.

Is there an unlimited supply of water in the water reserve?

No. The other important factor with the water lenses are that they have a limited holding capacity and if you overpump them it causes the mixing of the fresh and salt water. This will take a generation to repair if it is well mixed. It is critical that the water reserves are not extracted beyond the sustainable yield.

Facts about KAPIII

The objective of KAPIII is to improve the resilience of Kiribati to the impacts of climate change on freshwater supply and coastal infrastructure.

Pacific disappointed with climate talks

Pacific countries already dealing with the effects of climate change say they are disappointed with United Nations Climate Change Conference in Doha, reports the ABC’s Pacific Beat …

The talks aimed to finalise an agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

Some nations have backed a new agreement, but others say it is useless unless big developing countries such as China and India sign up.

The small pacific island of Kiribati says its fate lies in the balance as the talks in Doha wrap up.

Kiribati Climate Advocate Maria Tiimon Chi-Fang told Pacific Beat she hopes the final day will be more productive.

Read the full story at radioaustralia.net.au

‘Climate view from Kiribati’

Australian Author and historian Paul Collins wrote an opinion piece about Kiribati for eurekastreet.com.au to coincide with the Doha Climate Change Conference …

I’ve been to Kiribati, so I understand its vulnerability. Straddling the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, the sea is everywhere. You’re never more than one or two metres above the ocean on the long, narrow strips of coral atoll that make up a country with a total land-mass of just 811 sq km.

The significance of Kiribati is that, together with Tuvalu, it will be the first country to be drowned by global warming. The 101,998 people of Kiribati can only retreat into the lagoon or the ocean.

Already the islands are badly eroded, and unprecedented long and severe droughts are affecting fresh water supplies and the vegetation on which people depend for food. Wind directions have changed and unseasonal and more violent storms are lashing the 21 inhabited islands. It may be already too late for this unique culture, and the Kiribati government has begun negotiations with Fiji to purchase land to re-settle people.

Given that last year Australia took 170,000 immigrants I find it extraordinary that we are doing precious little for our Pacific neighbours in Kiribati who share much with us culturally and religiously. The islands are 55 per cent Catholic, 38 per cent Protestant and 3 per cent Mormon.

Geographically it’s a long way from Doha to Tarawa, the Kiribati capital, but it’s even further in terms of understanding the effects of global warming.

Read the full story at eurekastreet.com.au

Indifference and effects of COP18

Indifference and effects of COP18: have we missed the boat on climate change? Psychotherapist Rosemary Randall calls for more focus in an opinion piece for The Guardian …

Psychotherapists aren’t fond of making predictions. The individual psyche is too full of conflicts, too labile and too contrary to make prediction a rewarding move. Is sustainability any easier to predict? I doubt it. There are as many conflicting currents in the bigger psychological landscape as in the individual one.

The interaction between political events and individual psyche is complex. Although public events can seem remote, we experience them emotionally – with anxiety, amusement or disgust for example, depending on what is featured and what we allow to affect us. These moods feed back into the actions of powerful players and produce what I call a public psychological landscape. There is the sense of an overall terrain – desert, pasture, mountain or wilderness – populated by features that come and go as you travel through it.

If sustainability is the landscape, then within it we will find competing moods, broad sweeps of feeling, forbidden subjects and repressed desires. We might trudge through miles of unspoken anxiety, knock up against pockets of paranoia, rest for a while in the sunshine of optimism or struggle in a fog of indifference. The landscape looks different, depending on where you are standing. And the weather can change without warning.

Missing the boat

Three years ago, in December 2009, my son returned home from Copenhagen. He had been at COP15 with UNFairplay, the organisation he and some friends set up to help small countries who could not fund enough delegates to attend the flood of meetings or digest the mass of paper. He worked with the delegation from Kiribati, a small island in the Pacific, already experiencing the effects of climate change. He was pale, exhausted and quiet, the failure of the conference etched on his face. The train to the ferry port had been delayed. “We nearly missed the boat,” he said. For Kiribati, there was no “nearly”. COP15 was the day the world missed the boat and the political and psychological landscape changed.

This year, news from COP18 at Doha has been sparse. Even the Guardian hasn’t reported the outcome in its print edition (though its online coverage has been good). In the three years that separate these two conferences, the public appetite for news of climate change has vanished. The psychological landscape appears to be one of indifference. Concern seems to have evaporated. Lobbyists for a third runway and for new roads express confidence. Oil exploration companies are chipper and unashamed. Among the middle classes it is OK to fly again.

Read the full article at guardian.co.uk

Secretary-General visits Kiribati

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma outlines new areas of Commonwealth assistance and support to Kiribati after his recent visit…

Kiribati is a highly valued member of the Commonwealth. The purpose of my first official visit to Kiribati was to have direct exchanges with the leadership as to the country’s priorities, the challenges it faces, and to identify the partnership which the Commonwealth can offer.

I was honoured to be received so warmly during my visit, and I depart with great appreciation and a deeper understanding of Kiribati’s aspirations and the challenges posed by geography, human and natural resource constraints, and climate change.

My discussions covered many areas of the Commonwealth’s work as a trusted and collaborative partner in advancing our core values of democracy, development and respect for diversity.

During this visit, I had the honour of calling on the President, HE Anote Tong, and Vice-President and Minister of Internal and Social Affairs Hon Teima Onorio. I also met the Minister of Communication, Transport and Tourism Development Hon Taberannang Timeon; Minister of Public Works and Utilities Hon Kirabuke Teiaua; Minister of Commerce, Industries and Co-operatives Hon Pinto Katia; and Minister of Environment and Agricultural Development Hon Tiarite Kwong.

I also had meetings with former President Hon Teburoro Tito, and the Speaker of the House of Assembly Hon Taomati Iuta.

Read what the Secretary-General had to say on climate change and Kiribati at thecommonwealth.org

Diabetes rise linked to climate change

Global food inequality is driving type 2 diabetes in the large numbers of people who are malnourished on the one hand and obese on the other, Tim Smedley reports for The Guardian …

The link between diabetes and climate change is highlighted in a new report from the IDF and supported by Bupa, which aims to put non-communicable diseases (NCDs) high on the international agenda.

Climate change is expected to cause people to migrate, increase slum growth, and makes resources scarce.

Rapid migration and urban slums also lead to food shortages and malnutrition which increase the risk of diabetes. In a cruel irony, the world’s poorest one billion people account for just 3% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions but experience the most devastating impacts of climate change. Small island states are at especially high risk and are disproportionately affected by diabetes, with rates of more than 20% in the adult populations of Pacific islands such as Kiribati, Samoa and Tuvalu.

It is a self-perpetuating problem. Where diabetes is caused by sedentary lifestyles, argues the report, there is a rise in GHG emissions from food production and car travel: “A population in which 40% of people are obese requires 19% more food energy than a population with a normal BMI distribution.”

Read the full article at guardian.co.uk

Agents of change perform

Press Release, Bairiki, Tarawa 01 November, 2012

“TOXIC waste, toxic waste is lying everywhere in the lagoon,” chanted Class 5B to hundreds of people at the Abaunamou Pri-School Climate Change Skit Competition on Friday.

“Sinking and floating like a balloon,” they continued.

“Fish chase them for food.

“Without knowing that they are no good.

“Don’t throw toxic waste into the lagoon.

“So then the fish won’t die and never go up to the moon.”

The poem, created by Class 5B and their teacher, Mimitaake Aron, signaled the finale of the winning performance of the first-ever skit competition held by the school at St Ioteba Maneaba in Teaoraereke.

The competition featured more than 600 children, aged 6 to 12, who were part of 20 class skits about climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. It was supported by the Kiribati Adaptation Program – Phase III (KAPIII) and Foundation of the South Pacific Kiribati (FSPK) who judged the competition alongside the Environment Conservation Division (ECD).

The children performed a variety of skits, with songs, dances, plays and poems conveying their English skills as well as important community messages such as why not to pollute, the dangers of coastal erosion and the benefits of recycling. For example, Class 5B’s winning message was: “From now on we will stop throwing toxic waste into the lagoon and we will try our best to make our lagoon the most beautiful lagoon in the world.”

Head Teacher Rabwa Ieremia said the competition not only benefited the children’s English and climate change knowledge, but also their parents who attended the performance as well as the wider community.

“Before the skit, some parents thought climate change was a problem overseas,” Ms Ieremia said.

“After the skit, the community has been asking questions about climate change and come to the realization that it’s a local problem that our community must address.

“They now know that we all contribute to these problems, such as throwing the rubbish into the sea, and they’re passing the message onto the local community and encouraging a change in behaviour.”

“This competition would not have been possible without the support of our parents, community, teachers, judges, Nei Tabera Ni Kai, KAPIII, FSPK and the ECD and we thank you all.”

Kiribati Adaptation Program – Phase III Project Manager Kautuna Kaitara said KAPIII was proud to support the efforts made by the school to take ownership of issues relating to climate change and their local community.

“The teachers, students and community have done a fantastic job in promoting positive key messages about climate change and relating them to their community,” Mr Kaitara said.

“Change starts at home and the school has taken ownership of changes that need to be made in the community, explained why they are important and provided solutions for change to their parents and friends.

“Children are just effective and sustainable ‘Agents of Change’ and it is hoped they will bring good changes in terms of understanding climate change and climate change adaptation throughout Kiribati.“

“I congratulate all students and teachers who participated in 20 wonderful and educational skits.”

About KAP:

The Kiribati Adaptation Program – Phase III (KAPIII), Office of Te Beretitenti, aims to increase freshwater supply and coastal infrastructure for the people and future of Kiribati.

KAPIII will achieve this objective under four key components to be achieved from 2012 to 2016:

Improve water resource use and management;
Increase coastal resilience;
Strengthen the capacity to manage the effects of climate change and natural hazards; and
Project management, monitoring and evaluation.

Water success for Banaba Island

Press Release, Bairiki, Tarawa 18 September, 2012

BANABA Island residents now have access to almost one million litres of rainwater thanks to the success of the Kiribati Adaptation Program’s (KAP) rainwater harvesting works.

In a joint effort between KAP, the Ministry of Public Works and Utilities (MPWU), King Holdings and the local community, construction of the Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) works was completed on 12 June, 2012.

The works, incorporated under Phase II and Phase III of KAP, comprised of various tasks needed to retrofit rainwater harvesting systems for water collection, transmission and storage infrastructure. This included the restoration of two water tanks, the installation of guttering on the desalination plant and old workshop buildings and maintenance training for a local technician.

The success of the project and regular rainfall during the past two months resulted in the tanks reaching the maximum capacity of 950,000 litres, KAP Project Manager Kautuna Kaitara said.

“Everyone involved is celebrating the successful deliverance of rainwater to Banaba, an island that is in the gravest need of water,” Mr Kaitara said.

“To give you an idea of the scale of the project, a standard rainwater tank is 5000 litres and Banaba’s new tanks hold a combined capacity of nearly one million litres. That’s the equivalent of 190 standard tanks,” he said.

The size of the roof catchment areas was about 10 times the size of a standard maneaba, he said.

“During the phosphate mining days, most water had to be imported from overseas. Then, the island depended solely on desalination.

“This proves there was no clean water supply available to the island and justified the dire need for the rainwater project.”

Banaba Island is 6.5km2 and part of the Gilbert Island chain. With just 295 residents, the one-time phosphate mining island is vulnerable to water shortages because there is no surface water or significant reservoirs of ground water.

Prior to KAP’s RWH works, Banaba Island residents depended on a combination of desalinated water and to a lesser extent rainwater.

However, the desalination plant was expensive to operate and the isolation of Banaba Island made maintenance works difficult, KAP and MPWU Senior Water Engineer Marella Rebgetz said.

“Before when the desalination plant broke down or required maintenance, Banaba had limited reserve water supply,” Ms Rebgetz said.

“Now, in most years, there should not be a need to operate the desalination plant at all,” she said.

“The project also delivered a water education program, additional materials for local communities to undertake further rainwater harvesting, and training to the local water technician to ensure the works is well-maintained in the future.

“I’m very proud to have been associated with this project. The tanks are now full and the water supply for the people of Banaba is much more secure.”

About KAP:

The Kiribati Adaptation Program began its third phase (KAPIII) in mid-2012. KAPIII aims to improve the resilience of Kiribati to the impacts of climate change on freshwater supply and coastal infrastructure.

KAPIII will achieve this objective under four key components to be achieved by 2016:

Improve water resource use and management;
Increase coastal resilience;
Strengthen the capacity to manage the effects of climate change and natural hazards; and
Project management, monitoring and evaluation.

KAP III has a total cost of US$10.8million and will be financed through grants via the World Bank from Government of Australia; the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Least Developed Country Fund (LDCF); Japan Policy and Human Resources Development (PHRD); Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR); and in-kind contribution from the Government of Kiribati.