Legal, Ethical and Policy Directions in Human Sciences

Running head: LEGAL, ETHICAL AND POLICY DIRECTIONS IN HUMAN SCIENCES
Legal, Ethical and Policy Directions in Human Sciences
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1LEGAL, ETHICAL AND POLICY DIRECTIONS IN HUMAN SCIENCES
What are the key issues and challenges facing pacific island nations?
The island groups of Micronesia, Polynesia and Melanesia collectively from the
‘Pacific Islands’, with their origins of Austronesia. Despite the relatively remote location
along with significantly decreased contribution to the existing environmental complications
affecting the global population, the region’s diverse ecological and environmental systems
have been impacted considerably (Nunn et al., 2014). One of the most serious environmental
issues inflicted upon the country at present, is the alarming rise in sea levels. As reported by
the Guardian, the dangerous increase in seawaters have led to the submerging of over five
islands belonging to the Solomon Islands, further aggravated by destruction of villages
reported in additional two islands in the Pacific region. Additional environmental challenges
which further plague the Pacific region include excessive dumping of waste in water bodies,
harmful degradation of the ozone layers, fishing using driftnets and most importantly, climate
change (Albert et al., 2016).
Consequently, the prevalence of such detrimental environmental conditions have further
resulted in emergence of serious health consequences, amongst the population of the Pacific
Islands. Climate change has been associated with the incidence of serious weather events
which often leads to trauma in individuals due to the prevalent death and destruction (Jupiter,
Mangubhai & Kingsford, 2014). The submerging of residential areas due to the
environmental issue of rising sea levels, often aggravate the problem of compromise
sanitation and hygiene, further leading to the transmission of various water-borne and vector-
borne diseases if left unmitigated for prolonged periods. The subsequent rise in air pollution
levels in the Western pacific regions, as opined by the World Health Organization, has been
associated with pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and chronic
obstructive pulmonary disorders (McIver et al., 2015).

2LEGAL, ETHICAL AND POLICY DIRECTIONS IN HUMAN SCIENCES
How can outcomes for Pacific Island Nations be improved?
The prevalence of such detrimental environmental issues leads to considerable impact
on the health of the citizens of the nations and hence, a lack of sufficient mitigation will result
in violation of ethical issues surrounding the quality of lives and wellbeing of the citizens.
Hence, for the improvement of environmental and subsequent health outcomes there is a need
for the adoption of environmentally sustainable practices (Kolk, 2016). The health of a
population lies is positively associated with the level of health and environmental literacy
amongst its citizens, and hence formulation and execution of public educational programs for
the purpose of dissemination of information related to sustainable environmental maintenance
and related positive healthcare outcomes would prove to be beneficial (Merenlender et al.,
2016). For the reduction of air pollution levels, governmental fiscal and taxation laws
considering the regulation of pollutant release and effluent discharge by concerned industries
would yield beneficial outcomes. Consequently, formulation of regulatory policies outlining
carbon gas emissions and chlorofluorocarbon emissions would be required in order to
mitigate the harmful outcomes of ozone layer depletion (Feng & Liao, 2016). The emerging
problem of the rise in sea levels can be overcome through the execution of infrastructures
such as dikes, for the purpose of coastal protection (Hinkel et al., 2015). For the mitigation
of harmful health consequences associated with the occurrences of climatic change associated
with extreme weather conditions, the formulation of appropriate disaster management action
plans would yield positive outcomes as it could result in the provision of optimum health
promotion and disease prevention services at the community as well as the national levels
(Sato, 2015). Lastly, governmental institutional adherence along with public health education
concerning the importance of Global Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations
would form the cornerstones of management of harmful health and environmental outcomes
in the Pacific region (Lu et al., 2015).