Implications of Climate Change and Sealevel Rise for Small Island Nations of the South Pacific: A Regional Synthesis

– The IAFOR International Conference on Sustainability, Energy & the Environment – Hawaii 2020 Official Conference Proceedings

“…Economic sectors particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change include agriculture and tourism. In addition, critical "life sustaining" resources, such as fresh water supply and fisheries, can be compromised by climate change impacts such as salt water incursion into fresh water basal lenses and nearshore coral reef decline or die-off (Hay et al, 1995). A compounding effect that adds to the increased vulnerability of island communities is that, given their limited resource base and size and their relative isolation and dependency on imported resources, many residents (including those with higher levels of education and technical skills) choose to relocate to areas that offer more economic and social opportunities often coupled with a lower cost of living.…”

“…A compounding effect that adds to the increased vulnerability of island communities is that, given their limited resource base and size and their relative isolation and dependency on imported resources, many residents (including those with higher levels of education and technical skills) choose to relocate to areas that offer more economic and social opportunities often coupled with a lower cost of living. This results in a phenomenon colloquially referred to as the "brain drain", wherby knowledge and technical expertise is continually lost from the region and substituted by temporary outside expertise that is expensive and often ill equipped to address the local customs and constraints of island communities (Hay et al, 1995).…”