Essay by Eric Worrall
Greens are starting to worry they have lost their audience.
Talanoa: Is anyone listening? Global leaders need to learn and act on climate change in the Pacific
By Prof. Jioji Ravulo
Pacific people have raised the alarm on climate change for decades, as rising seas pull them away from their homes, weather patterns become more extreme, and traditional food sources come under threat.
But is anyone listening?
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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) made a landmark ruling in July 2025, holding countries legally responsible for the harms they are causing related to climate change.
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he International Court of Justice (ICJ) made a landmark ruling in July 2025, holding countries legally responsible for the harms they are causing related to climate change.
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For climate action activists and leaders in the Pacific, the ruling was an opportunity to focus climate change to a human rights and justice approach. Placing Pacific people and their lived and living experience in the centre of the narrative should be privileged, and key to accountability.
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Additional funds are needed by governments to support these transitions. However, Pacific people risk abandoning centuries of connection to the vanua, including ancestors that are buried and won’t be relocated.
Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/talanoa-climate-change-pacific-is-anyone-listening-cop31/107220240
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You can understand the distress of the Climate Cargo Cult. They’re putting their hearts into the money dance, dancing their feet off, but no bales of cash are showing up.
So they’re going to try to bombard us with more heart rending “stories”, to try to summon back the cash – but the timing couldn’t be worse. The Trump Administration thinks the climate crisis is fraud, and climate believer administrations like the governments of Australia, Canada and Europe don’t have any cash to spare.
I wonder how people like Professor Jioji Ravulo will explain to climate activists that the magic isn’t working anymore? How bad a flop will COP31 prove to be? How many climate activists will jump ship and join the United Nations new Artificial Intelligence COP?
I don’t think the climate movement will completely disappear. Those cargo cults which appeared when Pacific Islanders saw the US military airdropping supplies during WW2, some of them are still active, still holding out hope the magic food and money rain will one day return. But nobody cares about a bunch of powerless true believers.
My prediction is COP31 is the turning point we’ve all been waiting for – after COP31, the power of the green movement will be broken, and they will rapidly lose any remaining ability to mess up our lives with climate narratives.
