Pasifika Communities University, in Fiji, published the book Climate Change in Pasifika Relational Perspectives in Suva, with the presence of the Prime Minister, Honorable Sitiveni Rabuka, who stated during the book launching that “for Fiji, climate change is encountered through our relationship with the Vanua, ocean, communities, and in our faiths.” Prime Minister Rabuka also stated that “While science, technology, and evidence-based policy remain natural, they cannot stand alone,” because Pacific societies have never viewed life only through technical or rational lenses. Therefore, responses to environmental and climate crises need to be guided by spiritual responsibility, political relationships, and moral obligation as well.
Photo courtesy: Government of Fiji and Pazifika Communities University
The book Climate Change in Pasifika Relational Perspectives is published by the Pasifika Communities University Press under the Toda Peace Institute, led by Rev. Dr. Upolu Lumā Vaai, and edited by Dr. Volker Boege, Dr. Carol Fartbotko, Professor John Campbell, and Dr. Tammy Tabe. The book not only affirm the Pacific traditions and documents how they are addressing the challenges of climate change, but also established a dialogue with Western philosophical views. However, the result transcends the limits of these traditions and conventional climate discourse by proposing an all-encompassing interconnectedness of tensions and contradictions involving different ways of being and knowing.
The roots of Pasifika Communities University trace back to Pacific Theological College (PTC), which was founded in 1961 and established in 1965 as the first Methodist-related regional educational institution offering higher education degrees in the Pacific. It started with a Bachelor in 1966, expanded to Master’s programs in 1987, included a Doctoral degree in 2004, and was approved to become a University in 2010, with 3 Schools and 5 Centers and Institutes. The university transition started in 2019 and in 2025 the Higher Education Commission of Fiji recognized the university status of the institution. The Vision of Pasifika Communities University is based on the motto “Whole of Life” which guides the work of its Institute for Climate Indigenous Knowledge (ICIK) and many environmental initiatives in Fiji and the Pacific Islands.