By G. Esther Pavihi, BCN News
The women and youth of Niue are the champions of Loss and Damage in Niue, says Felicia Pihigia Talagi, the Director of the Project Management Coordination Unit in Niue.
Addressing delegates attending the Regional Loss and Damage Dialogue in Samoa, Felicia Talagi says that the women and youth in Niue are holding government officials who attend international meetings on climate change to account.
“The women are calling on the government. Our youth is calling on the government saying, ‘you came to us in May make sure you deliver. Make sure you speak what you called us to do.”
Niue held their national dialogue on Loss and Damage in May. In the absence of a definition on Loss and Damage, Niue is calling for the Pacific voice to lead in defining Loss and Damage.
Felicia Pihigia Talagi said: “If we don’t define Loss and Damage, others would do it for us and they might not understand what is important to us. We need to define it (Loss and Damage) based on our needs,
“Our voices deserve to lead, if the world only thinks about money when talking about Loss and Damage, then many of our struggles will get ignored but by defining it ourselves, we can make sure that help goes to where it’s really needed and that is why fair support is important.”
Alana Fiafia Rex, Niue’s Loss and Damage Coordinator, shared the experience of the Niue youth dialogue held in May. “There is a deeper awareness that the climate crisis threatened the very essence of their Niuean identity,” she said.
“At the Niue youth dialogue, the young people stood up and shared their deepest fears, not of just losing people, land and culture but losing “what makes me, me.”
“We all know that climate Loss and Damage are not only physical and economic, they’re deeply emotional and psychological especially for small communities like Niue.”
Felicia Pihigia Talagi says that the Niue delegation will need to make sure that they provide a satisfactory response to the women and youth when they return from these dialogues.
“It’s not new to us in Niue and our livelihoods and our day to day living. We’ve been doing a lot of adaptation and mitigation projects but loss and damage speaks beyond adaptation. So if adaptation fails. If disaster risk management fails, this is where loss and damage comes in,” she said.
Niue’s all women delegation to the Regional dialogue on Loss and Damage also include youth representatives Charlotte Magatogia and Ashley Pihigia, former director of Taoga Niue, Moira Enetama.
Deputy Secretary of government Gaylene Tasmania is expected to arrive today for the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable tomorrow.
The Pacific Regional Loss and Damage Dialogue 2025 is held from 11-12 August at Taumeasina Island Resort. It follows the inaugural Pacific Youth Dialogue on Loss and Damage, held from 7- 8 August, at the same venue in Samoa.
The Pacific Regional Loss and Damage Dialogue 2025 and the inaugural Pacific Youth Dialogue on Loss and Damage are made possible with funding support from the Loss and Damage Capability and Capacity (LDCC) Project with the Government of New Zealand.
Hosted by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the dialogues bring together Pacific governments, youths, civil society, academia, NGOs, and the private sector to collectively advance the region’s priorities on Loss and damage.
This story was produced by the Pacific Media Team covering the meetings. Their attendance is made possible with funding support from the Loss and Damage Capability and Capacity (LDCC) Project with the Government of New Zealand.
For more information, please contact SPREP Climate Change Adaptation Adviser, Ms Filomena Nelson [email protected] , SPREP Climate Change Loss and Damage Officer, Ms Jessica Rodham [email protected] or Media and Public Relations Officer, Mr Keni Lesa [email protected]