Her name means calm ocean but Moemoana Schwenke is ready to tell world leaders just how upset she is about climate change inaction, with fears her people in the Pacific Islands and Samoa will become climate refugees.
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The University of Wollongong student has travelled to Glasgow to deliver her powerful message to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).
Global world leaders and climate activists will gather in the Scottish city from October 31 to November 12, to discuss and agree on urgent climate action.
Representing the needs of the Pacific Islands and Samoa is high on Moemoana's agenda.
"In these places, the land, the ocean and the people have a heartbeat. They are like my roots that firmly ground my identity.
"Yet now, this calm ocean is angry. It is violent, washing over lands that carry culture, washing over my ancestors' burial grounds with the chance and fear of my people becoming climate refugees," she said.
Born in Samoa and raised in New Zealand, the 21-year-old Moemoana has been a fierce climate warrior for some time.
Aged just 14 she remembers seeing how Samoa had suffered from the immediate effects of climate change. Many Pacific Island nations have seen accelerated sea level rises, longer and more intense heatwaves, exacerbated natural disasters like floods and cyclones and progressing coastal erosion. For them, it's not climate change but a climate emergency.
In Glasgow, along with other Pacific Islands' youth representatives and their organisation, The Pacific Climate Warriors, Moemoana will represent Samoa, Tuvalu, Tokelau, Kiribati, Tonga, Fiji, Hawaii and 20,000 other islands of the Pacific Ocean.
She said even though they were the least responsible for the climate crisis, Pacific countries were at the frontline of the impacts of climate change. Moemoana says the region has a unique moral authority to act.
"When big corporations, governments and world leaders are not fully committing to reducing fossil fuels and don't want to shift to 100 per cent renewable energy - who can we look to? I believe the most authentic, impactful and empowering climate leadership comes from our Indigenous people of the world," she said.
"We know that the solution to this climate crisis lies in the Indigenous knowledges. We have protected these lands for centuries. Now, there is no time to lose. We need to move financial flows away from fossil fuels."
Currently pursuing a double degree in Indigenous Studies and Environmental Humanities alongside Communications and Media, the UOW student's personal mission in Glasgow is to popularise the Pacific Islands' culture in the world arena.
"My parents own a cultural centre in western Sydney. I was active there from a very young age, learning about Pacific cultural arts, and now I teach what I know to the Pacific youth," Moemoana said.
"So, it was my culture that taught me to be a warrior."
Moemoana also wants to highlight the views of The Pacific Climate Warriors. The group, which represents 350.org, wants to simplify the voices of the frontline Pacific communities, especially the youth.
They also call for more Indigenous people to be present at the decision-making tables. They believe that COP26 presents an open arena to talk about funding. One of their pleas is to defund fossil fuels. Another is to fund a smooth transition into climate action by increasing climate finance, especially for many smaller organisations like their own.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
