Trouble in Paradise: Climate Change in the Pacific challenges us to reconsider the Pacific not as remote and small, but as Large Ocean Nations with a vital role in addressing global climate change.
Climate change has reached code red for humanity, and the Pacific islands are among the most vulnerable to its effects. In the Pacific, the destruction is already happening. As the oceans become warmer, sea levels rise and tropical storms become more fierce and frequent, coral and other marine life are dying, and crops are lost. Island communities face economic hardship, but that is not all: climate change poses a threat to their very existence – already the sea is claiming the land.
In the lead-up to the COP26 climate change summit, the UK Government invited people from across the Pacific to document the everyday impacts of climate change in their region. These photographs are the winning entries of the UK’s Pacific Climate Photography Competition. The images highlight the resilience of the people, while also offering hope for the future in their determination to leave the environment in a better state for the next generation.
This project was curated by the British Council New Zealand and the Pacific, with support from the British High Commission in Wellington.
See highlights from the exhibition and hear from the Right Honourable Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, in this video.
See a small selection of images below. You can explore all the winning photographs in the online gallery.
