Problems
Fiji is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about 2,000 km; 1,300 mi north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about 110 are permanently inhabited—and more than 500 islets, amounting to a total land area of about 18,300 square kilometers. The most outlying island group is Ono-i-Lau. About 87% of the total population of 924,610 live on the two major islands, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu. About three-quarters of Fijians live on Viti Levu's coasts: either in the capital city of Suva; or in smaller urban centers such as Nadi. The interior of Viti Levu is sparsely inhabited because of its terrain. The climate in Fiji is tropical marine and warm year round with minimal extremes. Cyclones occur about once annually.
Causes of rising sea levels in Fiji
Like most of the Pacific, Fiji is starkly susceptible to the impacts of the climate crisis - as an island nation, Fiji is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels, coastal erosion, and extreme weather. These changes, along with temperature rise, will displace Fijian communities and will prove disruptive to the national economy. Tourism, agriculture and fisheries will be severely impacted by climate change causing increases in poverty and food insecurity. Surface temperatures and ocean heat in parts of the southwest Pacific are increasing three times faster than the global average rate. Severe cyclones routinely batter the region. Building seawalls, planting mangroves and improving drainage are no longer enough to save villages in many cases, says Shivanal Kumar, a climate-change adaptation specialist in Fiji’s economy ministry. As a party to both the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Climate Agreement, Fiji hopes to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 which, along with national policies, will help to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
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Timelines
2022
Togoru loses an estimated 1.5 metres of land every year. But, in the first six months had already lost five metres.
2017
Tukuraki, a village in the highlands of the main island of Viti Levu, relocated to a neighbouring clan’s land, after a series of disasters.
2016
February
Cyclone Winston, the worst cyclone in Fiji’s history, killing 44 people, hit, destroying or damaging the makeshift shelters the villagers had been living in, with many finding shelter in caves in the mountains.
2014
Fiji became the first Pacific island nation to relocate a community because of rising sea levels. The village of Vunidogoloa became the first village in Fiji to be relocated.
2012
January
A landslide had struck Tukuraki, killing a family, including two toddlers. Later that year, Cyclone Evan hit the village, damaging the temporary homes, destroying infrastructure and wiping out crops.
2006
The community Vunidogoloa approached the provincial government and requested assistance with relocation. The idea of moving the village had been discussed since the 50s, when the sea level started rising.