Picture: Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment Hon. Dr. Mahendra Reddy with elders of Somosomo Village.

The onslaught of rising sea levels on the chiefly village of Somosomo on Taveuni will soon be mitigated through the construction of a nature-based seawall along the coastal boundary of the village.

In a meeting with elders, and villagers at Somosomo Village yesterday, Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment Hon. Dr. Mahendra Reddy said the issue of climate change continued to be further exacerbated due to a failure to act on the part of the world’s largest carbon emitters.

Minister Reddy has iterated that works on the nature-based seawall at Somosomo would commence by mid-2022 after the completion of current nature-based seawall constructions around the country.

Minister Reddy added that communities like Somosomo were at risk due to rising sea levels and effects such as coastal erosion, with the Fijian Government allocating its scarce resources to address the issue at vulnerable coastal communities.

“Your village is one of the villages that has witnessed firsthand the wrath of climate change and rising sea levels and we fully understand the situation on the ground as you are confronted with the erosion of your coastal boundary.

“Your ancestors settled along the coastal areas and along the riverbanks because they found security and livelihoods, but little did they know, that this would one day become a threat to the lives of their descendants because the industrial activities of developed countries are affecting us today,” he said.

Hon. Reddy also elaborated on Fiji’s mission at the most recent COP-26 which was geared towards getting major carbon emitters to reduce their carbon footprint for the benefit of small island states, which were at the most risk with respect to climate change and its adverse impacts.

“The issue of how our countries are in grave danger from activities undertaken by developed countries was raised during COP26 in Glasgow and how it wasn’t too late for them to change their conduct and behaviour in terms of the continued release of harmful gases that contribute to global warming and melting of glaciers which causes sea-level rise,” he said.

He also added that through more climate change funding, similar nature-based projects would be undertaken by Government to safeguard Fijians from climate change and mitigate its effects.

“Like other coastal communities in Fiji, your village faces coastal erosion, along with increasing impacts from extreme weather events, including seawater intrusion and flooding that provides a threat to the communities.

“Therefore, immediate action is needed to address and reduce the impact of coastal inundation that damage the infrastructure and causes threats to the villagers.

Approximately 150 meters of coastal area along Somosomo Village will be protected through the use of nature-based seawall.

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