‘Moving to the mountaintops’: rising seas displace tens of thousands in Papua New Guinea | Gulf province councillor says growing numbers are leaving, in what climate activist describes as a ‘humanitarian crisis’

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1. Some of the major issues highlighted by the article:

   >Pariva beach is part of Kerema in Papua New Guinea’s Gulf province. In that area, rising sea levels and sand erosion have forced about 40,000 people to move inland over the past decade, a local councillor says, in what a leading climate change activist describes as a “humanitarian crisis”.
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   >The Kerema councillor Mai Trevor says 80,000 people lived in the local area, however, since 2015, almost half of the population has moved inland due to high tides and sand erosion. Trevor says residents first began moving in 2015, but over the last four years the number of people leaving has grown.
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   >As well as fishing, many in the province earn a living from coconut and betel nut farming. In recent years, residents say the tides have been rising and weather patterns have shifted, making it harder to grow crops or fish in the oceans, and affecting their livelihoods.
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   >“Many are moving to the mountaintops in Kerema town, while those who have land [further inland in nearby] Murua have moved there,” Trevor says.
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   >“We need a proper count of the population in the area to come up with a way to address it, all land are customarily owned so authorities can’t just relocate people,” she adds. Papua New Guinea is in the process of conducting its first census in many years, which experts say may reveal the population of the Pacific country to be far higher than current estimates of about 10 million people.
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   >The environment, conservation and climate change minister, Simon Kilepa, says the rising sea levels and the impact on communities is a concerning issue that underscores the vulnerabilities faced by coastal communities across the country.
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   >Kilepa says the climate change and development authority (CCDA) is “working with various government departments and partners to best address the issue”.
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   >The CCDA acting managing director, Debra Sungi, says the agency is “deeply concerned about the challenges posed by rising sea levels”, which have already affected livelihoods, homes and the cultural heritage of thousands of Papua New Guineans.
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   >She says the agency is working on “resilience-building measures to mitigate these impacts” and conducting vulnerability assessments in affected provinces, including the Gulf province, to make decisions on resources allocation.
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   >“We are committed to ensuring that no one is left behind as we navigate these unprecedented challenges,” she says.
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   >Still, Gabi says not enough is being done to support communities. He also fears the impact of a plan being considered by authorities to begin sand mining in Orokolo Bay, on the western side of the Gulf province.

   It’s been clear for a while that the climate crisis isn’t a future crisis for many communities, but one that is impacting them presently. More people need to be taking these challenges seriously and undertake measures to try to deal with them in a timely manner.

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