By Sevket F. ERBAY in Budapest
The Pacific Island Games has come to be one of the colorful sporting festivals in the Olympic calendar for years. Starting from 1963, the Games were contested every four years in the pre-Olympic year, and the next edition is due to be held at the end of this year in Solomon Islands’ Honiara.
The Games are gathering all the archipelagos and single islandic nations in the Pacific Ocean between Oceania/Asia and America. But many of these islands are experiencing an existential crisis now due to climate change and rising sea levels.
During Budapest23, World Athletics organised a panel with some of its members from the region about their affected lives and sustainability. The panel consisted of Simone Fe'ao (Athletics Cook Islands), Rusila Tekamotiata (Kiribati Athletics), Jerry Brunt (Samoa Athletics Federation), Niuone Eliuta (Tuvalu Athletics) and Antoine Boudier (Vanuatu Athletics), and was chaired by Bob Ramsak, World Athletics Head of Sustainability.
By the way, what they talked about were really serious issues instead of sporting celebration. “It is scary to live on an island at the frontline of climate change,” said Niuone Eliuta, General Secretary of Tuvalu Athletics. “If things carry on the way they are going, in 50 to 100 years we may not even exist.”
Jerry Brunt, president of Samoa Athletics, has pointed out another issue related with the big picture, as country's only synthetic track is often under water due to floods. “That facility is where we hold every athletics event,” he said. “But competition is fierce from other sports. There is a grass field too but that’s often prone to flooding too. It has such an impact on our athletes’ ability to reach their potential. We have to send them overseas.”
Athletics Cook Islands President Simone Fe’ao also echoed environmental problems and urged the Oceania Nations to act together to make a difference.
Yet amidst the calls for help rising up from the table, Bob Ramsak offered a well-summarised explanation on the situation. “These countries really are on the front line of the global environmental crisis,” WA Head of Sustainability said. “They’re facing literal, physical extinction if something doesn’t change. And it’s not their fault. They’re doing what they can, as countries and in athletics. But it needs the rest of us, including international bodies like World Athletics to do more. we have to figure out a way to use our influence to de-carbonise our events.”
