Engineering Research: Climate Change Impacts in South Pacific Islands

This report provides a comprehensive review of climate change impacts, particularly focusing on the South Pacific Island countries. It begins with an overview of the critical risks, including water and food insecurity, and health issues, emphasizing the vulnerability of nations like Tonga, Fiji, and Kiribati. The literature review examines articles discussing climate change risks, adaptation strategies, and governmental policies, with a specific focus on Fiji's challenges related to cyclones, floods, and their effects on agriculture, tourism, and water resources. The report also incorporates insights from a UNICEF report highlighting the impacts of climate change on children and the need for integrated climate activities and child-focused strategies. It discusses research gaps, potential research questions, and the research methodology to be employed. The report aims to analyze the effects of climate change and propose solutions to mitigate its adverse impacts on the environment and the population of the South Pacific Island countries.

Running head: A REVIEW OF CLIMATE CHANGE
A Review of Climate Change
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Keywords:........................................................................................................................................2
Literature Review:...........................................................................................................................2
Climate Change in South Pacific Island Countries:....................................................................2
Literature Review of the Articles:...............................................................................................3
Research Gap:..................................................................................................................................9
Research Questions:.......................................................................................................................10
Research Outcomes:......................................................................................................................11
Research Methodology:.................................................................................................................11
Resources Required for the Project:..............................................................................................13
Risks in the Execution:..................................................................................................................14
Flow Chart and Project Time Management Plan:..........................................................................15
Flow Chart:................................................................................................................................15
Project Time Management Plan:...............................................................................................16
References:....................................................................................................................................17

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Keywords:
Climate change, water insecurity, island countries, health issues, policies, UNICEF, children,
article, objectives, environment.
Literature Review:
Climate Change in South Pacific Island Countries:
One of the most vital and growing risk to the health of the human comes from climate
change. This threat imposes different impacts that are projected for diverse regions. Nowadays
the investigators have reported that Pacific island countries like Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati and more
were the most threatened by the climate-change related health issues, all because their area of
residence was located in such a geographic, socioeconomic and demographic characteristics
which was vulnerable to climate change impacts. Due to this climate change issue, most of the
countries around the world have faced troubles with water and food security along with some
health impacts that had direct connection with the climate change practices. The island countries
of South Pacific area also faced risk in health which was termed really high in terms of the levels
of the non-communicable diseases that included obesity, hypertension, obesity and such more.
The population of these Island countries were facing death due to the emergence of these
diseases; the reason of growth in the rate of mortality was found to be simple, these residents
preferred high-calorie food that was imported from other countries and there was negligible
endeavour to grow local foods in the area (Merila & Hendry, 2014). The reliance that these
populations had on imported foods would prove to be fatal at some point of time since any
change in the climate could alter the rainfall or even local food supply and even water insecurity.

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There have been ample instances of empirical documents that have successfully brought out the
causes and consequences of climate change practice in the area of South Pacific Island countries
like Fiji, Kiribati and more.
Literature Review of the Articles:
According to the article ‘A Review of Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation Practices and
Policies, And Relevant Institutions in Fiji’ the author highlighted the most vital climate change
risks that Fiji was threatened with which are mostly cyclones and floods (Chaudhury, 2015). The
articles talked about the republic of Fiji which is a small and low-lying island country of the
South Pacific faces many threats that pose a direct change on the livelihoods of the population in
a negative manner. The government of Fiji has come to know the danger of the climate change
which is why a number of policy implementation is seen to be going on, not only in the island
nation itself, but also across the world through UNFCCC; the government is very serious about
the implementation and development of policies that would help in minimizing the affect that
climate change has on the whole world. The article then shifts towards the explanation of the
diverse impact that climate change has on the different sector of the country of Fiji. The change
in the climate not only affects the health of the population, but also the agriculture, tourism and
even the urban development.
The cyclone that hit the country back in 2003 caused a huge loss in the production of the
crops; the threat of flooding was always hovering over the residents. Even the rivers Rewa and
Wainibuka were flooded such that it damaged around 70% of the crops production (Henriques &
Richardson, 2013). It is evident that loss in the production of crops will automatically lead to
food insecurity across the nation. Apart from the food insecurity, water insecurity poses a huge
danger in the nation of Fiji considering the fact that most of the population there are residents

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along the costal line. This is the reason behind their fisheries sectors being the dominant work
sector; however, sediment discharge and floods are creating an adverse effect on the fishing
economy as well as the on the habitat structure of the reef by the sea. Even incidents of bleaching
of coral bleaching have been witnessed by the people over there due to the sudden increase in the
surface temperature of the sea. If marine life and economy takes a constant hit like this
occasionally, then the stability of the economy will be disrupted and water insecurity will take a
huge form of disaster for the country. The tourism is also interrelated with the marine life in Fiji
and therefore a significant support to the economy of Fiji; hence it is a common notion that the
climate change will have its impact on the touristic sector of Fiji’s economy as well (Betzold,
2015). After exploring the impacts of the climate change practices and the seriousness of the
government in adapting policies to maintain a decent environment, the article provides the
primary challenges that the island countries are facing or may face in the future along with the
provision of potential solutions in order to cure the trouble at hand.
In another article by Patrick D. Nunn, a stance of the past 100 years living in the island
countries of South Pacific is compared with the present condition and then again, the futuristic
100 years are brought to the table in order to predict the way of lives that the human generation
will have to adapt to (Nunn, 2012). Since the first settlement of the humans which was
approximately three thousand years ago, the Pacific islands in particular has seen several changes
regarding the condition of the climate and these changes have subsequently changed the
livelihoods of the residents in here to a great extent. Being such a small and constrained in terms
of resources, the pacific island countries are sensitive landmasses that undergoes heavy
consequences even for the slightest change in the landmass or any other element of the
biodiversity (Olmstead, 2014). This extraneous reaction to the changes is the reason for which

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the people and the government of these countries are so serious about their resilient strategies.
There was a time when even after the provision of ample knowledge about the potential causes
and effects of climate change, the people of these countries remained negligent towards the need
for adaptation and remained unaware and unbothered of the gradual changes around them. The
past 100 years have shown an alarming rise in temperature of the environment and the oceans
and it has been correctly presumed that in the next 100 years or so, the temperature will rise
more at an accelerating rate (Adger et al., 2013). There will be a time when the people of
countries like Tango, Nauru, Kiribati, Fiji and Cook Islands will face an unavoidable
circumstance to change their location for extreme water insecurity and food insecurity as well.
There will be scarcity of less vulnerable places to live in peacefully. It is for this reason that the
article calls up for the attention of the relevant government agencies and the international
partners of these south pacific island countries to implement effective awareness programs and
adapt solutions in order to eradicate the climate change practice that is not only harming the
livelihoods of the populations there, but also creating a tremendous threat of water and food
insecurity that has the potentiality to destroy the whole economy and ecology of these countries.
In the last hundred years, the whole world has gone through a number of changes like
emerging from colonies to independent democracies. Most of the common change is the
urbanization that spread like a fire throughout the world (Scott et al., 2003). During these times,
in the need to be urbanized, people have used up the island resources in such a way that it
resulted in the present degradation of land, water pollution and also air pollution. All this while,
the climate change was in the background against which human kind were depleting natural
resources in order to quench their thirst for urbanization. However, within the said time period,
the Pacific islands were not able to recognise the factor of climate change practice as one of the

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most important and stressing point in major environmental concern. Yet this fact has been
constantly affecting the region in a slow pace and gradually taking the form of a major headache
for the residents in the area. When it comes to the question as to why the international partners
should be concerned for the degradation that south pacific countries are facing, it is clarified in
the article that these practices of climate change, are not discriminating in nature when it is
spreading and destroying healthy ecosystems. The article puts on the observation of the recent
climatic conditions of the south pacific countries and compares them to the past hundred years of
climatic conditions only to arrive at a conclusion as to what the next hundred of years will be like
in climate wise. The results are not in favour of the human kind or any living being in fact. The
only way to save the humans from such tragedy is by spreading awareness and abiding by the
strict policies from the government (Corner, Markowitz & Pidgeon, 2014). The NGOs are also in
line to help the countries to get over such a destruction and if the recommendation provided in
the article are followed as it says, there is a slight possibility to turn this right towards the benefit
of all the living beings who are dependent on this place as their natural habitat.
From the University of Melbourne, the Nossal Institute of Global Health has submitted a
report on the climate change and its impact on the children of the Pacific region including the
factors that indicate the surviving nature of these children, to the UNICEF (Hills et al., 2013).
The key objectives that this report focuses on are: the way climate change affect children of the
Pacific island countries along with the presumption of the future impacts; the stakeholders who
are actively participating to eradicate the climate change issues especially in countries like Fiji,
Kiribati and more; finally the way UNICEF should engage in the arena of climate change issues
in south Pacific island countries (Urbano et al., 2010). The report constitutes of meetings and
interviews conducted in Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga and others. The report covers six primary issues

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that is a major concern in order of the climate change emergency; these six issues are: the
concern existing among several agencies about the way of integrating the climate activities into
the works that are already existing and work it out as a part of climate adaptation. The second
issue is that there is a lack of explicit strategies that would solely focus on the children and the
problem they have to face for the climate change, moreover, it is a challenge as well as an
opportunity for the UNICEF to prioritise the rights-based programs which are based on children
and young children. The third issue is about the need to move towards an evidence from the
anecdote when it comes to working with the local communities, the governmental organizations
and also the NGOs (Nikolaou, Evangelinos & Allan, 2013). It is of high importance that the
effects and causes of these climate changes are researched, publicised and documented to have
further assistance in the future of the research. The fourth issue surrounds in the lack of co-
ordination and co-operation between the participating stakeholders and this inability of working
together is creating a growing issue in itself which has the power to worsen the existing level of
waste among the developmental agencies. The prevailing levels of duplication among the donors
will also be exacerbated. The fifth issue that the report focuses on is the fact that the non-
government and the community-based organizations are the only ones who conduct most of the
innovative and the creative wok on the children, and the contribution of UNICEF in this arena is
negligible (Eisenack et al., 2014). If UNICEF has the intention of having this issue covered, it
would have to expand its genre and contemplate about expanding their work in the area of
children issues due to climate change practices; it should think about branching out their work
with the governmental organizations and the ministries to the community sector. The final issue
mentioned in the article is in probability the most significant point of all. The children and the
young residents of the South Pacific Island countries are well aware of the danger they reside in

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and it is disturbing that they are also aware of the limited potentiality they posses when it comes
to bringing in the necessary changes in the environment. They know that their voices and
opinions would never be heard by the high authorities of the governmental organizations or even
the UNICEF. Therefor, this article recommends the participation of the children’s voice in their
programs and initiatives that would integrate this voice into the national campaigns of the
climate change.
The final article is a future outlook on the health, sanitation and the drinking water in the
South Pacific island countries like Nauru, Cook Islands, Fiji and more. There are reliant but
secondary sources of data taken from the reports of WHO and UNICEF making the surveys’
outcome near about appropriate. In these South Pacific Island countries, the proportion of the
residents who have started using improved version of sanitation has increased to 31% in 2015;
moreover, in regards to the drinking water also, the proportion of people who started using
improved and clear drinking water increased to 52% in the same year (World Health
Organization, 2016). After the year 2015, there has been an alarming growth in the population to
70% making the increment in the consumption of clean drinking water and sanitation usage
along with the investment stagnant for the next years (World Health Organization, 2016). The
objectives of the report are to give an overview of the status of the hygiene, sanitation and
drinking water in these countries so that the decisions concerning the regional and the national
concern of the sector can be addressed (Bell et al., 2013). Based on the evidence of statistics and
high-level commitments, the report aims to stock the water and the sanitation development.
Under the light of statistics-based evidence, the report also analyses the achievement of the
MDGs in regards to drinking water and sanitation targets (Govindan, Khodaverdi & Jafarian,
2013). There are implications of the SDGs to look into the Pacific island countries based on the

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same targets of drinking water and the sanitation of the place. Apart from all these the report also
provides advocacy and a basic discussion which can accelerate the investment which is required
to bring development and improvement in the hygiene, drinking water and sanitation of these
regions. However, all the information provided in the report is exclusive of the peri-urban arear
since the secondary data does not include the status of these regions into its statistics.
All these above articles show the tremendous danger that the Pacific region is in because
of the climate change practices. The water insecurity has already started to take place hindering
the hygiene and the sanitation of the areas (McIver et al., 2015). This natural consequence is not
biased like a human being, which is why it can spread to any region without any explanation, if
the region does not maintain itself. The theory of Triple bottom line must also be kept in mind
whilst seeking solution to the problem. There are children in the area who are well aware of their
condition but are helpless in their position, since their voices and opinions are not integrated
enough to make a change in the country. It is the responsibility of organizations like UNICEF,
WHO and the government to strictly impose the policies which can save their country and let the
children speak for themselves, since they are the first hand victims of the climate change. Their
opinions will definitely help the high authorities to come up with solutions and even recognise
issues that were not even in the table at the first place.
Research Gap:
 There is a critical gap in the information gathered from the articles and the data that was
taken from these articles; these data should have been conducted in a way that would
have made the vulnerability of the country and the residents clear. The reason behind this
vulnerability would also have been better for the assessment of the article.

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 The adaptation of the projects mentioned in the articles was not diversified.
Diversification of the projects would have ensured the cover of the different sectors and
help them to be climate resilient.
 A climate change along with the reduction of the risk of disaster should have been
integrated so that the application and the effect of the policies regarding climate change
impact would have been strong.
Research Questions:
Based on the secondary data and the outcomes that was derived from it, the most
important question that erupts is that is it too late to bring a change in the island countries? There
is also the question of the implementation of the strict policies that the government has started to
impose in the country; are those policies and programs effective enough to improve the condition
of the countries. Given the fact that natural resources have been overused to such an extent that it
has led to an insecurity of food and water, therefore what are the plans of the government and the
non-governmental organizations to renew these resources. If it is considered that no such renewal
is possible and the place has become too vulnerable to reside in, then it is said that the population
will be re-located; however, where are the implications that such a huge step is being pre-
planned and arrangements are being made in order to keep the situation in control.
When the whole situation is analysed there are many such questions that will arise and
question the validity of the step that is planned to be taken in order to improve the lives of the
people of South Pacific regions. The human actions have been so aggressive that it has rapidly
led to the distortion of resources and the most important questions stays in the back of the mind
of every people, which is: is it too late to get back things the way they were? Keeping in tabs

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with the data collected from the articles mentioned above, it is required to analyse the status of
the danger that the population of the countries Fiji, Nauru, Tonga, Kiribati and Cook Islands are
in. With the answer deduced from that analysis, the proper authorities can arrange plans and
policies to save the habitat of these island countries.
Research Outcomes:
It is expected that a proper analysis will be received at the end of the research that will be
stating the status of the danger that is hovering around the population. It will provide the answers
whether there is still time to turn the condition of the environment back around and make it
residence worthy, or not. If not, then it will help the higher authorities take concerns and plan
about the place where the population will be re-located to start a new life. The re-location that
the articles have mentioned needs pre-planned structure that is absent.
Research Methodology:
The information has been gathered for the research by the help of primary sources like
previously researched journals. Five previously researched journals have been selected for
getting vast information on the effect of climatic change in South Pacific island nations. Triple
bottom line theory has been implemented to have a clear idea about the effects of climate change
and its effects on the island nations (Wong et al., 2013). The triple bottom line theory suggests
that the various companies must take care of the environment and the climate of the place they
are working. According to the theory, companies must take care of the climate like they take care
of their profit (Adams, Frost & Webber, 2013). The triple bottom theory imposes on the fact that
there must be three elements which must be taken into account like the profit of a company, the

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people affected by the climate and the effect on the planet. The theory helps in pointing out the
corporate social responsibility of companies towards their commitment towards the change in the
climate condition of an area. John Elkington, a famous British management consultant, first
introduced the phrase triple bottom theory in 1994. The idea behind introducing the theory is to
manage a company not only to take care of its yearly benefits but also take care of the lives of
the people of the planet (Kumar & Taylor, 2015). This theory provides a vivid idea of how the
company in the vicinity of the island nations can help in promoting various ways and campaigns
for the betterment of the climatic condition of the place.
The type of data that has been put to use in the project is secondary data since the scope
for the conduction of primary data method was very scarce. The whole project was mostly based
on some articles that has been previously written on the topic so that the topic in hand could be
analyzed and the research question could be stated. Only after the research question is stated, the
answer to the research question can be recognized. This project states some of such research
questions on the basis of climate change practices in South Pacific island countries upon which
certain answers are still pending. The data collection type for the project was Qualitative data as
the project is based upon statistics and graphs; not much survey has been conducted in this
project or even the resources from where this project has been deduced. Therefore, there is
negligible presence of any quantitative data. The analysis method used in the project is also
qualitative and not quantitative. Since the project is mostly based on the facts and figures of
qualitative data, so there was no necessity to conduct a primary resource; sample size was not
required to execute the project.
In executing the project, the research ethics were also taken care of acutely. There is no
such exaggeration or any statement that is hyperbolic in nature. The facts have been presented as

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it was seen in the empirical documents. Any issue regarding the execution of the project has been
taken care of and none of the research ethics were violated in doing so. Although there was no
necessity in conducting any kind of survey or interview for the attainment of outcomes, yet there
are people who were involved in the completion of the task; there was no forceful participation
and the dignity of the participant was maintained all throughout the process of execution.
In future when the research question will be analyzed, the research ethics will still be
maintained, none of the participants of the research or even the surveys will be forced to do so.
The dignity of the participant will be maintained along with the anonymity. The consent of the
respondents will be gathered before making them participate in any survey, if conducted. Most
importantly, the plagiarism of the content will be acknowledged through proper citation in the
text.
Resources Required for the Project:
Primary resources that was required for the project were mainly empirical documents that
were easily available over the internet and public libraries as well. Reports on statistics were
provided in the newspapers since the ones in the books gathered from libraries were outdated.
Time was a big asset for the completion in the project, which is why secondary data were relied
upon. Internet was also a significant resource that was necessary all throughout the project
execution; similar necessity was the software of Microsoft Word, upon which the project is
written. Since the whole project was based on the secondary data of the empirical documents and
there is not any kind of primary source of data usage in the project, therefore it can be said that
field site is not a part of the resources of the project.

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There are lab reports in some of the articles from where the literature review is taken
from and also in order to back up the statement of the research, yet there had been no need to
conduct a lab test in person to collect a data from the results of the resources. The project is
mainly an analysis from different articles that had similar motives to show to the readers and this
project is a part of the analysis to show the danger that the population of those countries are truly
in. Therefore, the presence of much resources was not required to execute the work.
Risks in the Execution:
Whilst the project was in execution, the most important risk that hovered around was the
amount of time that was allotted in order to complete the project. There are vast arrays of
information on the topic that has been provided and in order to pen down every information in
that limited amount of time was risky; there were huge chances of information misplacement or
even missing out on important facts in order to support the statement. The literature reviews were
also risky to jot down within the time since the articles contained detailed information on the
topic that is assigned.
All the articles seem to have been imparting data collected from some secondary sources;
therefore, there is a risk of falsified statistic or even some minute error in the charts and tables
that were provided in the articles. The resources from where the data was collected can not be
termed as highly reliable since the resources have been deduced from empirical documents and
the statistics were also copied from a different source. All the requirements for the project could
not be gathered for the time management of the execution. However, the task was completed in
time with as much as verified data as possible.

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Flow Chart and Project Time Management Plan:
Flow Chart:
START
PROJECT PLAN
SCHEDULE
PROJECT
AGREEMENT
PROJECT
EXECUTION
SELECTION OF
ARTICLES
DATA
MANAGEMENT
PROJECT
TERMINATION

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Project Time Management Plan:
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6
Project Start √
Planning √
Schedule √
Agreement √
Project Execution √

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References:
Adams, C., Frost, G., & Webber, W. (2013). Triple bottom line: A review of the literature.
In The Triple Bottom Line (pp. 39-47). Routledge.
Adger, W. N., Barnett, J., Brown, K., Marshall, N., & O'brien, K. (2013). Cultural dimensions of
climate change impacts and adaptation. Nature Climate Change, 3(2), 112.
Bell, J. D., Ganachaud, A., Gehrke, P. C., Griffiths, S. P., Hobday, A. J., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., ...
& Matear, R. J. (2013). Mixed responses of tropical Pacific fisheries and aquaculture to
climate change. Nature Climate Change, 3(6), 591.
Betzold, C. (2015). Adapting to climate change in small island developing states. Climatic
Change, 133(3), 481-489.
Chaudhury, M. (2015). A Review of Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation Practices and Policies,
And Relevant Institutions in Fiji.
Corner, A., Markowitz, E., & Pidgeon, N. (2014). Public engagement with climate change: the
role of human values. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 5(3), 411-422.
Eisenack, K., Moser, S. C., Hoffmann, E., Klein, R. J., Oberlack, C., Pechan, A., ... & Termeer,
C. J. (2014). Explaining and overcoming barriers to climate change adaptation. Nature
Climate Change, 4(10), 867.
Govindan, K., Khodaverdi, R., & Jafarian, A. (2013). A fuzzy multi criteria approach for
measuring sustainability performance of a supplier based on triple bottom line
approach. Journal of Cleaner production, 47, 345-354.

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Henriques, A., & Richardson, J. (Eds.). (2013). The triple bottom line: Does it all add up.
Routledge.
Hills, T., Carruthers, T. J. B., Chape, S., & Donohoe, P. (2013). A social and ecological
imperative for ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change in the Pacific
Islands. Sustainability science, 8(3), 455-467.
Kumar, L., & Taylor, S. (2015). Exposure of coastal built assets in the South Pacific to climate
risks. Nature Climate Change, 5(11), 992.
McIver, L., Kim, R., Woodward, A., Hales, S., Spickett, J., Katscherian, D., ... & Naicker, J.
(2015). Health impacts of climate change in Pacific Island countries: a regional
assessment of vulnerabilities and adaptation priorities. Environmental health
perspectives, 124(11), 1707-1714.
Merilä, J., & Hendry, A. P. (2014). Climate change, adaptation, and phenotypic plasticity: the
problem and the evidence. Evolutionary applications, 7(1), 1-14.
Nikolaou, I. E., Evangelinos, K. I., & Allan, S. (2013). A reverse logistics social responsibility
evaluation framework based on the triple bottom line approach. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 56, 173-184.
Nunn, P. (2012). Climate change and Pacific Island countries. Asia-Pacific Human Development
Report Background Papers Series 2012/07, 1-89.
Olmstead, S. M. (2014). Climate change adaptation and water resource management: A review
of the literature. Energy Economics, 46, 500-509.

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Scott, D., Overmars, M., Falkland, T., & Carpenter, C. (2003). Pacific Dialogue on Water and
Climate. South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission: Suva, Fiji.
Urbano, M., Maclellan, N., Ruff, T., & Blashki, G. (2010). Climate change and children in the
Pacific Islands. UNICEF Pacific.
Wong, E., Jiang, M., Klint, L., DeLacy, T., Harrison, D., & Dominey-Howes, D. (2013). Policy
environment for the tourism sector's adaptation to climate change in the South Pacific–
The case of Samoa. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 18(1-2), 52-71.
World Health Organization. (2016). Sanitation, drinking-water and health in Pacific island
countries: 2015 update and future outlook.