By Michael DeVito, Returned Peace Corps Volunteer Tonga 2018
My experience in Tonga showed me how the existential threats of climate change permeate the daily lives of an entire nation. Without an immediate response from the international community, Tonga’s environmental and economic situation will only worsen.
Photo by Adli Wahid on Unsplash
Pacific Island Nations are falling victim to the detrimental impacts of environmental calamities. Natural disasters and drastic weather patterns devastate economic stability, destroy coasts and infrastructure, and interrupt essential agricultural practices. The prognosis that island nations will soon be submerged underwater is ever-closer to reality. On January 14, 2022, the world watched how the unexpected, deadly eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano spewed heavy, earthen deposits into the sky and blanketed the Kingdom of Tonga with ash; tsunami waves as high as 49 feet crashed along the coastlines of the mainland and surrounding islands. The waves demolished homes, plantations, and hard infrastructure, as well as severed all forms of communication with the rest of the world.
Tonga may have narrowly survived this catastrophic tsunami that took the lives of three people, but the long-term damage to the country’s economy, and the livelihood and well-being of its entire population is dire. According to Greg Dusek, a physical oceanographer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the disaster in Tonga was the first time in the modern Era that a volcanic shock wave created its own tsunamis (Andrews, 2022). The emerging threat of climate change is thus not to be taken lightly; should the world continue to ignore its impacts, small island developing states (SIDS) will continue to suffer at the selfish hands of larger developed nations who are unwilling to mitigate the climate crisis.
The aftermath of this record-breaking volcanic shock has left Tongans grappling with a long list of large-scale problems, and has also exposed the harsh reality of the social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities and constraints SIDS suffer from climate change. As the volcanic smoke and sediments dissipated over the days following the eruption, aid responders from nearby developed nations flew into Tonga to administer a needs assessment and deliver immediate relief. Providing drinkable water and perishable food was prioritized as many water catchment systems had been either fully destroyed or contaminated by volcanic ash, as well as food supplies, crops, and livestock. Outer low-lying islands, including Nomuka and Mango, were hit especially hard by the tsunami and experienced their own unique set of problems.
Living on these outer islands and working as mariners, Tongans rely heavily on the sea for their daily income, but with boats destroyed and toxicity warnings and restrictions enacted, fishing stopped abruptly, leaving many citizens concerned about their economic security. With coastal communities on the outer islands having lost virtually everything and with no access to emergency supplies, it was imperative to evacuate them to the main islands to stay with extended families or at interim shelters where they could access direct relief.
With the catastrophe, the only underwater international cable that connected Tonga to the rest of the world was severed by the tsunami and requires immediate repair. With a limited and patchy internet connection, friends and family living abroad are still unable to maintain a stable, secure communications link, making it difficult to electronically transfer money, provide emotional support, update infrastructure capabilities, and coordinate the distribution of aid to loved ones in Tonga.
First and foremost, it is widely known that SIDS have been subjugated by the obvious, blatant agenda of larger exploitative nations. According to the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDC) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are on the frontline of multiple world crises: climate, nature, health, economics, and finance are exposed more than ever and intensifying over time (Multidimensional Vulnerability, n.d). Tonga’s multifaceted relationship with China exemplifies the exploitation of a SIDS by a more powerful nation. The major infrastructural investments and financial aid that China pours into the Kingdom are neither grants or donations, but are issued as low-interest loans, further pushing Tonga to become a debt-distressed nation. China’s financial interest in Tonga and its establishment of a large minority presence within the country is in its own self-interest. China’s actions strategically widen its authority over the south Pacific region, influence diplomatic relationships, and allow it to exploit the region’s fisheries, natural resources, and seabed minerals.
Additionally, Tonga and other SIDS are unable to withstand the negative implications of increased greenhouse gas emissions due to the inadequate effort to reach net-zero emissions. China, alongside other major emitters, hold the fate of SIDS in its hands and wields the power to decide Tonga’s future. Rising sea levels, marine heatwaves, higher air temperatures, and reduced cooling patterns continue to spur natural disasters like volcanic eruptions. For large eruptions, climate change will cause the plumes to rise higher and the aerosols to spread faster over the globe, resulting in a cooling effect amplified by 15%. Changes in ocean temperatures are expected to further amplify the cooling, and the melting of ice sheets is also projected to increase volcanic eruptions, frequency, and size (Collins, 2021). The bottom line is, as greenhouse gas emissions cause temperatures to rise, unexpected natural disasters such as tsunamis and volcanic activity will occur more frequently and in greater volumes.
Despite SIDS having an obvious disadvantage in the global struggle against climate change, Tonga has taken immediate action to do its part to achieve the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In 2019, the Kingdom of Tonga participated in the Voluntary National Review of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and presented the Tonga Strategic Development Framework. Tonga was also the only SIDS to submit a Voluntary National Review (VNR) to the UN.
Tonga’s strategic development framework addressing climate change reports that Tonga has achieved 10% of the 50% share of the renewable energy target (IISD, 2019). In addition, Tonga administered a Joint National Action Plan on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management in 2018. This plan spans across ten years and includes strategies to reduce Tonga’s greenhouse gas emissions and its reliance on oil imports. Furthermore, Tonga established the Pacific region’s first and only Climate Change Trust Fund, which provided supplementary financial support to adaptation and mitigation efforts through the scaling up of community-based solar electrification projects and the implementation of coastal protection measures (Tonga Climate, n.d). The Kingdom of Tonga is clearly taking an active role to sustain itself and stay afloat, literally and figuratively, in the middle of the south Pacific Ocean. It is long overdue for polluting countries to take accountability for their climate change passivity and to mirror Tonga’s gallant efforts.
The Kingdom of Tonga was my home for two years, as I experienced first-hand the devastation of the category four Cyclone Gita in 2018, during which homes blew away, power lines disconnected, resources ruined, and vegetation destroyed. The people of Tonga are the most resilient people I have ever known; the perseverance and fortitude that Tongans demonstrated when rebuilding their homes, cleaning their communities, and bouncing back to activities of daily living was unlike anything I have ever seen. Without an immediate response from the international community, Tonga’s environmental and economic situation will only worsen.
Mãlõ lahi ‘aupito.
How to help Tonga
Currently, there are fundraisers and organizations collecting essential goods including perishable food, clothes, toiletries, and educational materials. The amount of support for the people of Tonga from all over the world is admirable, and all donations are directly assisting the Tongan people as they persevere through this difficult time. Friends of Tonga, a nonprofit organization founded by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who served in the Kingdom of Tonga, is raising money to support local organizations on the ground who provide direct aid to the affected communities. To make a donation through Friends of Tonga, click here. It is our duty as global citizens to support Small Island Developing States; this will allow us to seize control over our future and secure progress in the right direction.
Works Cited
Andrews, R. G. (2022, January 25). Tonga shock wave created tsunamis in two different oceans. Science.org. https://www.science.org/content/article/tonga-shock-wave-created-tsunamis-two-different-oceans
Collins, S. (2021, August 11). Climate change will transform cooling effects of volcanic eruptions, study suggests. University of Cambridge. https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/volcanoesandclimate#:~:text=They%20found%20that%20for%20large,cooling%20effect%20amplified%20by%2015%25
International Institute for Sustainable Development. (2019, June 4). SIDS address climate change, education, health in 2019 VNRS. SDG Knowledge Hub. Retrieved April 3, 2022, from https://sdg.iisd.org/news/sids-address-climate-change-education-health-in-2019-vnrs/
Multidimensional vulnerability index for Sids | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.) United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://sdgs.un.org/topics/small-island-developing-states/mvi
Tonga Climate Change Trust Fund – Tonga. (n.d.) United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://unfccc.int/climate-action/momentum-for-change/activity-database/tonga-climate-change-trust-fund
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