| Neena Bhandari climate change

75 Million Environmental Refugees to Plague Asia-Pacific

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 03.08.2009 (IPS): Pacific Islanders, aiming to secure their very survival, are calling for immediate commitments from the developed world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 45 percent by 2020.

“For us, climate change is a reality. We have been experiencing high tidal waves, which has not been the case earlier,” Pelenise Alofa Pilitati, Chairperson of the Church Education Director’s Association in Kiribati, told IPS. “High tides and sea level rise will submerge our homeland. We don’t want to become environmental refugees.”

Climate change could produce eight million refugees in the Pacific Islands, along with 75 million refugees in the Asia Pacific region in the next 40 years, warns a new report by aid agency, Oxfam Australia.

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Climate Change to further disadvantage Aboriginals

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 08.05.2009 (IPS): Climate change will further marginalise Australia’s Aboriginal communities, forcing them out of their traditional lands, destroying their culture and significantly affecting their access to water resources, indigenous rights advocates warn.

“As coastal and island communities confront rising sea levels, and inland areas become hotter and drier, indigenous people are at risk of further economic marginalisation, as well as potential dislocation from and exploitation of their traditional lands, waters and natural resources,” said Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma.

Indigenous people have been living in close affinity with nature for thousands of years, preserving the environment and protecting the biodiversity.

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