Fresh Start: Voices for Climate Change

You may have noticed our vibrant new campaign on social media. Fresh Start aims to raise awareness, engagement and visibility on Pacific issues, especially surrounding climate change in 2022.  

 It is no secret that climate change effects are driven by developed countries for economic wealth and the effects can only be strongly mitigated by these countries themselves.  

 Talanoa around climate change has primarily been told through a colonised lens. Global regimes surrounding environmental injustice have always provided an inadequate form of representation for key indigenous voices to fight for what they believe in. It has been seen that our indigenous people are invited to have their say in these conversations but this does not impact the outcome due to the economic, legal and global power that they lack.  

 Our Pacific islands face the direct effects of climate change, but contribute the least to the problem. Cyclones, rising sea levels, damage to economy and everyday lives; the list of issues increases, and our Pacific people are fighting to stay afloat. Yet, despite facing the brunt of the effects, Pacific voices have little space to be heard on a global level.  

 Our activists' voices are often lost in an ocean of other voices and their meaningful, powerful work can be easily shifted away from the mainstream eye due to the bombardment of discourse surrounding climate justice.   

 Pacific youth are increasingly becoming prominent voices and thought leaders in this climate fight. This is where Fresh Start comes in.  Fresh Start is a platform for young indigenous Pacific voices and activists to be seen and heard in a way where they gain visibility and engagement within their work and activism.   

Aotearoa itself is part of the Pacific region and that connection means that the issues impacting the Pacific region impact all of us. Fresh Start aims to put Pacific voices together in one space to celebrate and strengthen the link between the work these activists and creatives have done to make a change.  

 By putting all these voices on one platform, we hope to curate a space that is easily accessible and digestible for audiences to learn, be inspired and hopefully take action in a way that suits their creative needs.  

 In other words, this space is for you to get involved with content made by Pacific activists and then find your own voice to express your support and fight for climate justice in 2022.  

 We know everyone is different so Fresh Start has a variety of “genres” that you can go through and take inspiration from. Poetry, dance, speeches, dissertations, songs - there is more than one way to make a change in these climate justice spaces and this platform is the perfect way for you to look through content and then go off and be part of the wave yourself.  

 Take a look today on https://www.pacificclimatechange.info/ and find your voice!