The Natural Environment The natural environment is a natural starting place for an exploration of data about Pacific peoples and human rights. The natural environment, the oceans, the sky and the lands, are inherent parts of Pacific identities. There is an emotional link, for diaspora in Aotearoa New Zealand, to the homelands of their cultural identities. While this Talanoa paper focuses generally on the human rights of Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand, the innate link of the Pacific diaspora to the environment and their homelands means that the environmental issues affecting those lands must be considered in this paper. In the 1980s and 1990s, nuclear testing in French Polynesia was a key concern that demonstrated the connection between Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand to the environmental issues across the Pacific. It is also important to note that while environmental sustainability is often proposed as a subject in its own right, the capabilities of Pacific worldviews to intersect and navigate complexity, means that Pacific responses to environmental degradation will always be inclusive of cultural, social and economic considerations. Climate Change Climate Change in the Pacific region is important to Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand. The effects of climate change impact their homelands, cultural traditions and extended families. When severe storms hit the islands, Pacific communities donate significant amounts of money and other resources to those affected. More recently, concern has centred on sea-level rise and the risks to human life and housing. The most impacted areas include the Tuvalu, Kiribati and Tokelau Exclusive Economic Zones. At its meeting in Nauru in 2018, the Pacific Islands Forum leaders signed the region’s updated security agreement, the Boe Declaration. This expanded the idea of security to include humanitarian assistance, regional co-operation, human security and environmental security. In announcing the Boe Declaration, Forum leaders reaffirmed that “climate change remains the single greatest threat to the 37 38 Pacific youth lead climate march in Auckland last year. Photo courtesy of RNZ Pacific livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific...” They also affirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement.”37 Climate change migration The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) explained that in the Pacific a series of ‘hotspots’ will become the source areas for future climate change-related migrants. These areas include urban areas, urban and non-urban atolls, and coastal communities.38 The report highlighted a range of impacts on the environment and on the security issues that will be faced by communities, such as risks to livelihoods, health and homes. https://www.forumsec.org/2018/09/05/boe-declaration-on-regional-security/ Campbell and Warrick,(2014) UNESCAP – Climate Change and Migration Issues in the Pacific https://www.ilo.org/dyn/ migpractice/docs/261/Pacific.pdf 15