One of the Pacific SOS boats in front of the United Nations on launch day, August 12. Photo credit: Franco Kok Benites / Dimitri Baer
You might have noticed a flotilla of boats sailing back and forth along the shores of Geneva on Lac Leman on Saturday, 12 August 2023. Marking International Youth Day with banners flying from the sails and a group of drumming local youth announcing “Pacific SOS” you will also notice that one of the youths was Ruben Chung. We published a previous article about his non-profit Serve4Good this year at this link.
Pacific SOS is a newly launched youth movement advocating climate justice for the Pacific Islands, who are on the frontlines of climate change. We caught up with its founder, Ruben Chung, a Geneva student whose family heritage comes from Papua New Guinea to ask a few questions:
Pacific SOS Youth Activists, photo credit PacificSOS
What exactly is Pacific SOS?
“Drawing on the Pacific Island tradition of preserving culture through storytelling, the platform assembles a collection of testimonies, prose and poetry, videos and photographs to illustrate the environmental struggles youth in the region are facing. While ‘SOS’ does represent a traditional cry for help, it also stands for “Sharing Our Stories”, “Sharing Our Solutions” and “Sharing Our Successes.” As many of us are desensitized and demotivated to the point of inaction by the doomism represented in climate data such as the escalating numbers, the targets we aren’t reaching, Pacific SOS also offers hope through stories of innovative solutions, indigenous practices, resilience, hopes and dreams.“
Pacific SOS youth activists on water, credit Pacific SOS
Why the Pacific Islands?
“As the effects of climate change intensify, we can learn from the Pacific Islands, which are among the first and most vulnerable regions facing environmental crises. On the frontlines, these low-lying islands grapple with consequences of sea-level rise, flooding, coastal erosion, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystems. The experiences of Pacific Island nations are relevant and significant for global climate action.
“The Pacific Islands encompass approximately 30,000 islands, occupying 15% of the Earth's surface. But despite their relatively low contribution to the emissions responsible for climate change, only 0.03% of the total, these islands are bearing a disproportionate burden of its impacts. The plight of the Pacific Islands highlights the need for shared responsibility of other nations in addressing climate change.”
Founder Ruben Chung, photo credit PacificSOS
He continues, “At the same time, it’s been the Pacific Islands who have provided major leadership in guiding the world through the climate crisis. For example, a group of small island states successfully campaigned for the upper limit of global warming to be reduced to 1.5 degrees from 2 degrees in the Paris Agreement. A grassroots movement starting with a group of students in Fiji was taken all the way to the United Nations with a resolution asking the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on the obligations of countries in respect of climate change. The first nation powered by 100% renewable energy is Tokelau, a Pacific Island.”
Why are you launching in Switzerland if the project is for the Pacific Islands?
“Given that all four branches of my family traveled by boat across the Pacific Ocean to land at the island each would eventually call home, it was symbolic for me to launch my platform for climate change on water, which is what connects me to my heritage and what connects all people to the Pacific Islands.
“Through the firsthand youth stories on our platform, I wanted people here, and everywhere outside the Pacific Islands to know that all our daily actions have impacts in far-reaching places. Apart from rising seas, extreme weather events, and threats to food security as a result of emissions produced by other countries, one incredible example that we might not think about is that the Pacific Ocean has the largest concentration of plastic rubbish in its waters, which is partly due to how ocean currents work. A plastic bottle thrown out in a river halfway around the world can be brought to the shores of the Pacific Islands.”
What’s next now that you have officially launched the campaign?
“Following the official launch, one of our next goals is to use the platform to inspire United Nations member states to contribute written comments to the 2023 UN resolution asking the International Courts of Justice to issue an Advisory Opinion on their obligations related to emissions and climate change.
“I hope that starting the movement here in Geneva, one of the headquarters of the United Nations, leaders and individuals around the world will be inspired by our platform to take action and responsibility towards our futures.”
Check out the more on www.pacificSOS.org
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pacific.sos
