Pūpūkāhi I Holomua - unite and move forward as one
The Pacific Islanders, whose ethos of Pūpūkāhi I Holomua (unite and move forward as one*), and who inspired this project, believe that humans must live in harmony with the natural world so as not to exploit and destroy its ecosystems. The Islanders claim that modernity, consumerism and industrialisation have caused an environmental imbalance that cannot be sustained. Heavy industry, that underpins capitalism, relies on mining, drilling and burning fossil fuels for energy. This produces greenhouse gases that heat the planet, causing multiple changes in the climate. Global warming raises temperatures and sea levels, threatening the viability of coastal communities with coastline erosion, submergence, reduced marine biodiversity and habitats, i.e., coral reefs that bleach and die. Extraordinary weather events caused by
climate change, such as storm surge, flooding and hurricanes destroy homes and infrastructures, and contaminate fresh water resources with salt water. Scientists, statisticians and environmentalists agree that, unless world leaders unite and fulfil their agreed commitments to reduce greenhouse emissions, the world will experience climate collapse by 2050. The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned delegates attending COP27 that ‘national climate commitments are falling pitifully short’… unless the world changes course quickly … ‘we are headed for a global catastrophe’.
*A Hawaiian proverb used by Barack Obama at COP26 to stress the importance of countries uniting to tackle climate change.
