On Thursday August 28, night, Friends of Aileu held a film screening-fundraiser at Merlynston Progress Hall.

The film, Anote’s Ark (2018 – dir. Matthieu Rytz), was both exquisite and devastating. It explored the human reality of climate change for the people of Kiribati, as their paradise home is thrashed by unprecedented hurricanes and disappears beneath irreversibly rising sea levels. Against the backdrop of our international responsibility and the unflinching efforts of the (then) President Anote Tong to raise global attention, the film follows the intimate story of a young mother, Sermary, uprooting her family from their cultural homeland idyll to New Zealand. It’s a story of resilience.  

A panel discussion after the film heard from Taulogomai Aii from Pacific Climate Warriors and Sticks xo from PermaQueer, on the strength and passion of young people as they receive the torch of climate action. Climate action for people in the Pacific comes from a place of immense love for country and grief, a more sustainable motivation than anger. The world needs to give indigenous people the time and space to be heard.

Celebrating the International Court of Justice’s affirmation of the legal obligation of governments to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, Pacific Climate Warriors invite everyone to “Draw a line at 1.5 degrees” at Altona Citizens Hall on Sat 20^th September between 11am and 2pm with many activities through the day. Save the date!