Preparing communities for climate change

Climate change is a key driver of displacement for our Pacific neighbours. Rising sea levels and increasingly frequent storms and extreme weather events are forcing people to flee their homes more than ever before. 

The World Bank predicts that 49 million people in East Asia and the Pacific will be forced to flee their homes due to climate impacts by 2050.

Act for Peace is working with local partners to help communities prepare for disasters and ensure they can respond and recover effectively.

Vanuatu is feeling the impacts of more frequent, major cyclones. For a nation that predominantly relies on subsistence farming for crop production, the impact of a cyclone on food availability can be catastrophic.

According to Act for Peace International Programs Coordinator, Sarah Doyle, this increase in climate-related disasters is having a huge impact on the local community.

“In the past, you might get a category 5 cyclone once every 10 years, now they are at risk every year,” explains Sarah. “It’s threatening the livelihoods of people because they haven’t experienced this many major disasters in the past.”

When Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu in 2015, the UN reported that 96% of food crops were destroyed. This major impact on food production sent food prices skyrocketing, which led to hunger and malnutrition. Twin tropical cyclones Judy and Kevin then hit in March 2023 causing widespread devastation to crops, major flooding and damage to houses and infrastructure affecting 80% of the island nation’s population.

	Andrew (pictured centre) with his family under a makeshift tarpaulin shelter in the place where their homes once stood. Photo credit: Sarah Doyle/Act for Peace

Andrew’s family home was destroyed in Cyclone Judy. “The cyclone ripped the roofing off our homes, so I evacuated my family to the small cave nearby,” Andrew says.

Local emergency services took Andrew and his family to the evacuation centre run by Vanuatu Christian Council (VCC). They lived in the evacuation centre for almost a month until their homes could be repaired to a standard safe enough to return to. VCC helped them return home by providing emergency roofing kits.

While the initial emergency response is necessary, Sarah explains that disaster preparedness and prevention are integral to ensure communities can respond and recover effectively.

“Communities have to be prepared to protect their livelihoods,” Sarah says.

VCC has also upgraded 114 community facilities used as evacuation centres across three islands of Vanuatu, to ensure they are accessible, including installing ramps and gender segregated toilets.

VCC works with communities to build their resilience to disasters so their food and income sources can sustain major weather events like cyclones.

“They focus on replanting and seeds for vegetables and fast-growing crops that they didn’t previously have access to,” says Sarah. “That’s critical to supporting increased food security and diversity to meet their nutritional needs.”

Act for Peace is committed to working alongside communities to shape displacement solutions together. Thank you for your support. Together we’re acting for peace in the world.

To help people facing displacement visit actforpeace.org.au/give   

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Disaster READY is supported by the Australian Government and implemented through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership.