Australian support for Kiribati?

Damaged sea-wall defences in Kiribati Photograph: Elise Scott/AAP

Just as a quick addition to my previous post, I came across this article in the Guardian today discussing the Australian Labor governments position on migration from the Pacific Islands. The need to act now to facilitate smoother future relocation from the islands, if required, is discussed. However, they also ‘currently see the critical role for Australia as playing its part in reducing greenhouse emissions and in supporting (sic. Pacific Islanders) with adaptation efforts’, which aligns very well with the view point held by Kiribati. I decided to post this particular article because, as I mentioned in my previous post, the future of the Pacific Islands will be very dependent upon international support, particularly from its immediate neighbors. Therefore I would like to think that any positive discussions on the matter (however politically motivated these discussions may be) should be beneficial to those living in these high risk areas.   

Again however, I found my myself to be scrolling through the comments section at the end of the article and it is fairly safe to say that the sentiments of the opposition immigration minister spokesman, Richard Marles, are not echoed by the majority of those replying. Whilst I found many of the attitudes displayed to be fairly frustrating, it did make me think about the term ‘sensationalism’ which cropped up a number of times. Climate scientists are often criticised for attributing all global problems to climate change. Although I personally think climate change is a risk multiplier in many situations, I will try to evaluate my discussions on these very politically sensitive topics more critically throughout the rest of this blog.