Planning for Community Relocations Due to Climate Change in Fiji

Karen E. McNamara; Helene Jacot Des Combes

doi:10.1007/s13753-015-0065-2

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Article Navigation > International Journal of Disaster Risk Science > 2015 > 6(3): 315-319

Karen E. McNamara, Helene Jacot Des Combes. Planning for Community Relocations Due to Climate Change in Fiji[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2015, 6(3): 315-319. doi: 10.1007/s13753-015-0065-2

Citation:

Karen E. McNamara, Helene Jacot Des Combes. Planning for Community Relocations Due to Climate Change in Fiji[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2015, 6(3): 315-319. doi: 10.1007/s13753-015-0065-2

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Planning for Community Relocations Due to Climate Change in Fiji

doi: 10.1007/s13753-015-0065-2

Karen E. McNamara^{1
,
,},
Helene Jacot Des Combes²

1 School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia;
2 Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development, University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji

Available Online: 2021-04-26

Abstract

Abstract

As a consequence of the impacts of climate change, some households and entire communities across the Pacific are making the complex and challenging decision to leave their homelands and relocate to new environments that can sustain their livelihoods. This short article charts how the residents of Vunidogoloa village in Fiji relocated in early 2014 to reduce their vulnerability to encroaching sea level and inundation events that regularly devastated the community. As a consequence of the Vunidogoloa relocation, this article also explores how the Fiji Government is planning for similar resettlement transitions, including vulnerability and adaptation assessments to develop a list of potential community relocations and the development of national relocation guidelines. This study draws from key informant interviews (n = 8) with government officials, as well as representatives from intergovernmental and local nongovernmental organizations, who are involved in the relocation issue. Given the speed at which these national, top-down initiatives are being forged and especially in light of the absence of any mention of relocation in Fiji’s 2012 climate change policy, careful and inclusive engagement across all scales and stakeholders, including communities “earmarked” for relocation, is paramount.
- Climate change,
- Community relocation,
- Fiji,
- Risk planning,
- Sea level rise

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References(18)

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