Photo project tells climate story across Pacific

Vlad Sokhin/Panos Pictures

PRESS RELEASE

Warm Waters: Photo project tells climate story across Pacific

Award-winning photographer Vlad Sokhin is documenting people and wildlife across the Pacific whose lives are already fundamentally threatened by climate change. The multi-year project, Warm Waters, includes photos and stories from 14 countries, which will be on display at the United Nations Green Climate Fund (GCF) meeting from 13-15th December in Apia, Samoa.

The GCF is the world’s main channel for managing the finance that wealthier countries have committed to provide developing countries as frontline communities are forced to adapt to climate change. Australia, Co-chair of the GCF, is showing progressive thinking by supporting the arts to help tell unique Pacific stories to the fund’s Board members.

“Visual evidence is a powerful medium that is able to communicate in very accessible ways. Warm Waters is not only helping to make the stories of those affected by climate change visible, it also shows their resilience and innovation coping with superstorms, floods and rising sea levels,” said Sokhin. “Everyone is affected by climate change, but it’s important for the GCF to understand the unique impacts experienced by Pacific communities compared with other regions.”

The GCF makes decisions on which projects and communities around the world receive vital funds to cope with climate change, as well as to reduce climate pollution. This will be an important opportunity for Board members to see first-hand the climate needs and opportunities across the Pacific.

New Zealand officials will attend the meeting. But while New Zealand allocates most of its climate finance to the Pacific, the heavy emphasis on renewable energy projects means that vulnerable communities on the frontlines of climate change are missing out on the funds they need to adapt to more severe droughts, floods and storms.

“The arts connect people. And it’s these connections between real people and places that get lost in technical talk and negotiations at official climate meetings,” said Sarah Meads, independent development consultant. “The GCF Board can simplify the procedures for

approving smaller-scale projects, making it easier for more vulnerable Pacific countries to access funding. As sea levels rise and another cyclone season gets underway, it’s more important than ever that people across our region receive tangible support.”

//ENDS

EDITOR’S NOTES

The project includes locations across the Pacific, including: Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tokelau and Niue. Please see: http://www.vladsokhin.com/work/warmwaters/

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