By Rakentai Momoe, Kiribati Union of Teachers
This was adapted from Ms. Momoe’s speech at the ‘Educators Stand for Climate Justice and a Just Transition’ conference in May 2023 at Lautoka, Fiji.

By now, we have all seen, felt and heard about the impacts of climate change. We have experienced its severe impacts in our respective communities. But Kiribati, my country and home, faces a different kind of threat from climate change. According to experts, Kiribati and other low-lying island nations will disappear in 50 years because of rapidly rising seas. Climate change may be a global problem, but for us in small island nations, the threat feels acute and local.

The unabated rise of sea levels in our part of the world means that our homes will no longer be viable in a few years. Scientists have said that climate migration will be in the millions by 2050. Climate migration occurs when people leave their homes due to extreme weather events, which includes floods, heatwaves, droughts, and wildfires, as well as slower-moving climate impacts such as rising seas and intensifying water stress.

While some may not consider this to be an imminent issue, this hits close to home for many Indigenous Peoples as we are a population that is most vulnerable to extreme weather events and slow onset impacts. Presently, many Pacific islanders are already migrating to foreign countries such as New Zealand and Australia in search of better employment opportunities. With climate change exacerbating, many more islanders will be forced to flee their beautiful islands because of a need to secure their families from the possibilities of environmental disasters. Because climate change also destroys their sources of food and shelter, Indigenous peoples will also be forced to migrate once these are depleted.

However, living on a foreign land is another story. In the first place, many Indigenous Peoples do not wish to leave their homeland because they face strict barriers to entry in these wealthy nations. Strict immigration laws, for instance, make it impossible during emergency situations for people to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.

Even in cases where Indigenous Peoples can migrate into these wealthy countries, they face a complicated life. Pacific people are already facing poor treatment and discrimination, as evidenced by the harsh treatment of refugees in Nauru and other parts of the world. The high cost of living in the so-called ‘First World’ is also a shock to many Indigenous migrants who have been accustomed to a culture of abundance and community in the islands. As a result, many of them face economic hardships.

Unmanaged and distressed migration can also increase the vulnerability of indigenous migrants, especially as they might experience double discrimination — being at once migrants and members of indigenous groups. For example, when Indigenous Peoples migrate, they face language and cultural barriers that can expose them to exploitation and discrimination which impede their access to jobs. This perpetuates a cycle of poverty.

Indigenous Peoples also have limited access to education. Even in cases where they can go to school in these countries, linguistic barriers often lead climate displaced persons to drop out. Abrupt and international migration often leave students susceptible to violence, discrimination, and the trauma of displacement — all of which could impede continued education.

When Indigenous Peoples migrate, they also bring with them their cultures, traditional knowledge and languages. But in cases where their migrant communities are hostile, these practices tend to be neglected or sometimes completely abandoned. For the communities left behind in their homelands, this also means that these traditions, cultures, and languages are slowly dying. In Kiribati, for example, the indigenous vernacular is being seen as less important compared to the language of foreign countries. English is the only language to be learnt and used to communicate with others or to get a job, which is why Indigenous Peoples are encouraging their children to speak English rather than their mother tongue. This leads to the loss of the vernacular. Once we lose our language, we also lose our identity.

Indigenous Peoples also have limited options to property ownership when they migrate. They live in rented houses and on the lands which are restricted by the landlords or the government. This is the opposite of their status in the islands where IPs traditionally have a strong material and spiritual reliance on their lands and ecosystems. Their livelihoods and daily activities are dependent on the environment and its resources, as well as their culture, rituals and medical practices which are anchored on a profound and ancestral connection with nature. But in foreign lands, they no longer have lands and natural resources that can maintain their cultural practices and their sense of belongingness.

In a rapidly heating planet, the first island nations to produce climate refugees will be Kiribati and Tuvalu. We are the most vulnerable countries, but I must reiterate that we do not want to be called refugees. We want to stay in our islands where there is abundance, community, and a strong connection to our land. What we want is for the world to act decisively on climate change. We need the world to cut greenhouse gas emissions and help us build resilience in our communities. What we want is to ensure that Indigenous Peoples are not left to drown because of a crisis that we had no hand in creating.