Intangible Cultural Heritage within the Laws and Policies of South Pacific Small Island States in the Climate Crisis: Towards a More Resilient and Inclusive Approach

Climate change is one of the most pervasive threats humanity faces. Although climate science has long warned against climate change impacts, and some efforts have been made to mitigate and adapt to climate change, ‘[t]he past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record, fuelled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat. Extreme heatwaves, drought and devastating flooding have affected millions and cost billions this year’. According to a new report from United Nations (UN) Climate Change published in October 2022, State measures are insufficient to meet the Paris Agreement’s temperature goal of well below 2°C by the end of the century. As a consequence of the failure of governments to meet their obligations of ‘providing adequate finance and support to less wealthy countries to reduce their carbon emissions and to adapt to the impacts of climate change (...) [and] to provide support and remedy less wealthy countries for the loss and damage they are suffering’, the live, livelihoods, and cultures of millions of people around the world are threatened, augmenting to numerous human rights violations.