Fijian women to bring climate relocation stories to the heart of Pre-COP31 talanoa

Fijian women living with the reality of climate-related relocation are preparing to take their stories directly to climate ministers gathering in Nadi next week.

Women and elders from Nabavatu, Narikoso, Vunidavo and Nayavuira will share their experiences at a Pre-Conference of the Parties (COP31) event from Monday 5 October.

This comes as Fiji, Tuvalu and Australia bring global climate decision-makers to the Pacific.

The Fijian communities are at very different points in their journeys. Narikoso in Kadavu was partly relocated more than a decade ago. Nabavatu in Macuata is currently being relocated while Vunidavo in Namosi moved in the early 1980s. Nayavuira in Ra has chosen not to relocate.

Their stories have been brought together in a new documentary through the Community Climate Talks, which will be screened at the “Amplifying Voices of Relocation” event at the Sofitel Fiji Resort in Nadi.

The event will focus on what relocation means beyond moving houses or building new infrastructure. This includes the loss of land, livelihoods, culture, identity, family connections and a sense of belonging.

Fijian communities including Narikoso, Nabavatu and Vunidavo are at different stages of climate-related relocation, while Nayavuira has chosen not to move. Photo/

Anina Vontobel, of GIZ Pacific which works with Pacific countries on sustainable development and climate issues, says women need to be part of decisions about what happens to communities facing climate change.

“Women are not only experiencing the impacts of relocation; they are also carrying knowledge, responsibilities and perspectives that are essential to understanding what successful and inclusive relocation means,” she said.

The push for communities to have a stronger voice at Pre-COP31 is also coming from the Torres Strait, where First Nations advocates say their experiences must be part of the climate talks.

Torres Strait 8 litigant Yessie Mosby, from Masig, is planning to travel to Fiji to advocate for the region.

“For too long the Australian government has held back action on climate change, putting our island homes at risk and ignoring our rights as both First Nations and Melanesian peoples,” Mosby said in a report by Torres News.

Saibai Koedal woman Barbs Ibuai, from the Torres Strait-led Climate Collective Zenadth Kes, says Australia needs to show the Pacific what climate leadership means in practice.

“We want Australia to show the Pacific what climate leadership looks like in practice,” she said in the report.

The event comes as the official Pre-COP31 ministerial meeting gets under way in Fiji from 5 to 8 October with a special leaders' summit in Tuvalu.

Fiji, Tuvalu and Australia are using the meetings to put Pacific perspectives into the global climate negotiations ahead of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, in November.

Torres Strait 8 litigant Yessie Mosby from Masig is planning to travel to Fiji to advocate for Torres Strait communities at Pre-COP31. Photo/Mary Harm

Officials say the discussions on climate finance, adaptation, loss and damage and rising seas are not abstract policy issues.

Fiji's President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu has been making that point in the lead-up to the meetings. He has called on world leaders to come to the Pacific and see the impacts for themselves.

“Half a degree is not a rounding error. For us, it is the difference between adaptation and relocation,” he said at a United Nations climate discussion in New York last week.

“For the Pacific, climate change is not a future scenario. It is saltwater entering farmland, coastal erosion moving closer to homes, stronger storms damaging schools and roads, pressure on fisheries and food security, and communities facing relocation.

“To every delegation in this Hall: come to the Pacific. See what a rising sea means to a village that has nowhere to move. Then let us go to Antalya and deliver on adaptation, on finance, on loss and damage, and on the transition away from fossil fuels."

Ratu Naiqama has also called for climate finance to reach the communities that need it, and for stronger action on adaptation and loss and damage.

“Climate finance must move from promise to access, and from announcement to disbursement," he told the UN.

The Pacific will also have a dedicated voice on the ocean at Pre-COP31. Former Fijian Global Climate Champion and opposition leader Inia Seruiratu has been appointed as one of Australia's Pacific Climate Envoys. His role focuses on the ocean.

Youth from across the Pacific, New Zealand and Australia are also meeting in Nadi ahead of the ministerial talks. Their regional statement is due to be presented to Pacific COP31 envoys and visiting ministers.

The relocation event is one of several efforts to make sure the people living with climate change are part of the conversation, not just the people negotiating the final agreements.

For the women from Fiji's affected communities, the message is grounded in what has already been lost, what can still be protected, and what support is needed if more communities are forced to move.

Former Fijian Global Climate Champion and Opposition Leader Inia Seruiratu has been appointed as one of Australia's Pacific Climate Envoys, with a focus on ocean issues ahead of COP31. Photo/Facebook/Pacific Islands Forum