This is Jeffrey and Joyce Daniels’ patch of earth
in the middle of the South Pacific
in Vanuatu
on one of 83 remote islands
in a tiny village
on a spit of land
that’s slowly vanishing beneath rising seas.
When Jeffrey was a child, this land was twice as wide.
Now his home and village are losing ground to the sea year by year.
The entire village must move – but few can afford it.
Some in Vanuatu are pushing back.
They want to sue countries for climate change loss and damage.
They plan to bring the battle from battered communities like Jeffrey’s village to the UN’s top court in The Hague.
Vanuatu is slated to receive $23 million in climate financing.
The damage from April’s Cyclone Harold: $440 million.
From 2015's Cyclone Pam: 2/3rds of GDP.
It’s simply not enough, says Ralph Regenvanu, who leads the push to sue for damages.
Vanuatu, he says, is “always building back after a cyclone or disaster.”
It's locked in costly recovery despite contributing little to climate change.
Climate loss and damage is deeper than violent cyclones or rising seas in Vanuatu and the Pacific.
Seasons are changing. Staple crops, once plentiful, are harder or impossible to grow.
“It is dying,” Jeffrey says of his island’s agriculture.
Salome Kalo is trying to defend her community.
She helps her neighbours cope – diversified crops, new growing techniques, shared costs as incomes shrink.
But adapting to extreme weather has its limits. She fears her community is reaching theirs.
Will a climate lawsuit work?
There’s no blueprint. There are plenty of hurdles.
Never before has one country sued another for climate change damage.
Legal action will come too late for people like Jeffrey.
His village is already emptying.
The waters creep higher each year.
A graveyard, perched precariously on the tip of his island, will be the first to vanish beneath the waves.
Read the full story: Inside Vanuatu’s climate change fight
✍: Ann Esswein
📷,🛰️: Felie Zernack
➔ bit.ly/climatelawsuit