Understanding climate change loss and grief in Pacific Islands

Looking from the lagoon across at homes on Abaiang Island, a low-lying coral atoll in Kiribati. (Credit: Karen McNamara)

A new University of Queensland (UQ) human geography project will examine the way Pacific Island communities on the frontline of climate change are experiencing loss and grief. The UQ School of Earth and Environmental Sciences Future Fellow Dr Karen McNamara said communities are already experiencing loss and grief due to climate change.

“Listening deeply to their stories is a critical first step in building our understanding of these factors, which are often non-economic losses to life, health, culture, Indigenous knowledge and sense of place,” Dr McNamara said.

The study will start next year, with extensive and in-depth fieldwork including interviews and workshops in each of the three countries with upwards of 200 participants from local communities and government.

Retrieved from UQ News: https://www.uq.edu.au/news/article/2019/10/project-document-climate-change-loss-and-grief-pacific-islands