LoopPNG – BY: Quintina Naime, 08:56, September 15, 2016
West Papua legendary group the Black Brothers Band is excited to return to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea to perform live after almost four decades.
The band last performed in PNG back in 1978 and are back to perform on Independence Day at the Sir John Guise Stadium to commemorate PNG’s 41st Anniversary.
The original band was founded by manager Andy Ayamiseba, with members including Hengky Sumanti Miratoneng (vocals, guitar), Benny Bettay (bass), August Rumwaropen (lead guitar, vocals), Stevy Mambor (vocals, drums), Willem Ayamiseba (percussion) and Amri Kahar (trumpet).
Black Brothers are known for hit songs back in the 1980s including Apuse, Permata Hatiku, Hari Kiamat, Terjalin Kembali, kerongcong kenangan, Anita and Wan Pela Meri.
Ayamiseba said they’re looking forward to play the old tunes for the mums and dads which should bring back all the memories.
“We will also play some new songs for the younger generation.
“We have a combination of repertoire that will satisfy all age groups so everyone can enjoy the show,” Ayamiseba said.
Benny Bettay thanked Parkop for bringing the group back to PNG after 38 years.
The current group here in PNG consists of a 16 members including three original members and female group Black Sisters.
Two of the original members August and Sumanti have died while Stevy Mambor couldn’t make the tour due to health reasons.
The Black Sisters Petronela, Rosalie and Lea Rumwaropen are daughters of late August Rumwaropen and they’ll be performing alongside their uncles.
Tickets for the concert are selling for K5 outer stands and K30 grandstand available at CHM Vision City and Tabari Place. Gates open at 4.30pm and the show starts at 6.30pm.
A 20 member official delegation from West Papua has also been invited to witness the celebrations.
EMTV – Present at Governor Parkop’s Conference today were members of the legendary band, Black Brothers.
They will perform at the Independence Anniversary Celebration featuring the Black Brothers Legends Come Home Concert at the Sir John Guise Stadium on Friday.
The last time the Black Brothers toured Port Moresby was in 1978, when the music industry in PNG was in its infant stages.
Yes, the Black Brothers are back in Port Moresby after 38 years.
Two of their original band members have since passed on, and this time around they are joined by their next generation called the Black Sisters.
Although they are here to celebrate PNG’s 41st Independence anniversary, Governor Parkop says they are also here to help inspire the music industry in PNG again.
Originally a West Papuan band, these days the membership includes those from Vanuatu as well as Australian-based members as well.
Original and current band manager, Andy Ayamiseba, said the band is looking to expand and include more members from Melanesian countries.
Braden Chin, Music Division Manager for CHM, said the Black Brothers were the inspiration behind the creation of the CHM Super Sound recording studio and label. Even the famous CHM logo, was motivated by the Black Brothers.
Mr Parkop said it was a concern that the number of artists recording at CHM has significantly dropped in the last 3 years. He said this was a reminder of our responsibility to our artists by stopping piracy and buying genuine recordings.
Black Brothers took a photo session with Governor of NCD, Powes Parkop – PNG Lopp
Port Moresby, Jubi – Legendary band from West Papua the Black Brothers are in Port Moresby to help celebrate Papua New Guinea’s 41st Anniversary.
The group will be performing on Independence Day at the Sir John Guise Stadium.
Black Brothers are an eclectic band that was the most popular musical group in PNG during the 1980s.
The reggae influences of the Black Brothers influenced various other musical groups in PNG.
The original band was founded by manager Andy Ayamiseba, with members including Hengky Sumanti Miratoneng (vocals, guitar), Benny Bettay (bass), August Rumwaropen (lead guitar, vocals), Stevy Mambor (vocals, drums), Willem Ayamiseba (percussion) and Amri Kahar (trumpet).
The 16 member band that is here in PNG to perform includes three original members and the Black Sisters.
Two of the original members August and Sumanti have died while Stevy Mambor couldn’t make the tour due to health reasons.
The Black Sisters Petronela, Rosalie and Lea Rumwaropen are daughters of late August Rumwaropen and they’ll be performing alongside their uncles.
Black Brothers are known for hit songs back in the 1980s including Apuse, Permata Hatiku, Hari Kiamat, Terjalin Kembali, kerongcong kenangan, Anita and Wan Pela Meri.
Their music, sung in Tok Pisin, and originally in Bahasa Indonesia included influences from reggae and political elements inspired by the Black Power movement.
NCD Governor Powes Parkop said it’s a privilege to have the Black Brothers back in PNG to perform after 28 years.
Parkop welcomed the group back to PNG and said it’s a pleasure to have them back in Moresby to celebrate 41 years of Independence with us.
He has extended an invitation for the fans of Black Brothers and the young generation to come out and support the group.
Tickets are selling for K5 outer stands and K30 grandstand available at CHM Vision City and Tabari Place. Gates open at 4.30pm and the show starts at 6.30pm. (PNG Loop)
‘Small and Far’: Pacific Island States Gather at Annual Forum
The 47th Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting began this week on the island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia. The meeting will bring together the leaders of 16 Pacific Island states to provide a platform discuss the prominent economic, development, and security issues of the region, and seek solutions to the region’s mutual problems.
The forum describes its mission as: “to work in support of forum member governments, to enhance the economic and social well-being of the people of the South Pacific by fostering cooperation between governments and between international agencies, and by representing the interests of forum members in ways agreed by the forum.” It has met annually since 1971, when the forum was founded as the South Pacific Forum.
Sixteen states in the South Pacific are members of the Pacific Islands Forum: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Reflecting the predominant geographic nature of the forum’s members, the theme for this year’s summit is: “Small and Far: Challenges for Growth.” While each of the members have small land masses and populations (Australia aside), their combined sovereignty covers an area of 8,538,293 sq km (3,296,653 sq mi), making their agreement over maritime concerns important not only for members of the forum, but also for states outside the forum with interests in the South Pacific.This geographic reality is usually reflected in the priority of regional fisheries and shipping lanes on the forum’s agenda. However, in recent years the impact of climate change has begun to dominate discussions within the forum.
The smaller states within the South Pacific have become a leading voice on the global stage on the issue of climate change and its potential effects on human security, as well as the environment. Pacific Island nations take climate change extremely seriously, with some forecasts predicting a potential loss of territory due to rising sea levels. For Tuvalu, a country whose highest point is only 4 meters above sea level, rising sea levels are very real threat to its existence.
This puts them at great odds with the region’s main power. Low-lying Pacific Islands deem Australia’s continued reliance on coal, as both a source of energy and a major export, a menace. Australia remains the third largest producer of coal in the world (behind China and the United States), and the world’s largest exporter of the fossil fuel, with no intention of shifting these positions.
The most prominent external issue for the forum will remain its interest in the Indonesian province of West Papua. In June this year the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu informed the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva that they were very concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in West Papua. While representatives from West Papua have no involvement in the forum, many of the Melanesian states like the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea maintain a strong ethnic solidarity with the Indonesian province, and pay special attention to developments there.
At last year’s Forum in Port Moresby a decision was reached to organize a fact finding mission to West Papua. However, Jakarta indicated it would not welcome any delegation, and had problems with the use of the term “fact-finding.” However, West Papuan leaders in exile remain hopeful that a push for similar pressure on Indonesia will develop from this year’s forum. However, with Australia keen to maintain friendly relations with Indonesia, it is doubtful Canberra will add too much of its weight to these concerns.
The other major concern for the forum will be the continued negotiations of the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations (known as PACER Plus). There is a developing consensus among the smaller Pacific Islands states that this agreement would not promote further economic development. Given that these island states already have tariff-free and duty-free access to the Australian and New Zealand markets the PACER Plus agreement would do little to enhance this reality.
Fiji’s Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama, has stated there “aren’t enough pluses” for Fiji to warrant signing the agreement, and the PNG Trade Minister has flatly stated he is “not interested” in it. Of greater importance to the Pacific Island states is freer labor mobility for unskilled and semi-skilled workers within the Australian and New Zealand markets. This is seen as having a far more direct positive economic impact for these countries.
The forum will conclude on Sunday September 11 with its traditional communiqué of conclusions reached to be published shortly after.
Jayapura,Jubi – Grup legendaris asal Papua, Black Brothers akan tampil di Hari Ulang Tahun ke 41 Tahun Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea (PNG) merdeka, pada 16 September 1975 dari Australia. Jelang kemerdekaan PapuaNew Guinea 16 September 2016, Gubernur National Capital Districk(NCD) Port Moresby PNG, Pemerintah Papua Nugini (PNG) mengundang grup musik legenda “Black Brothers” dari Bumi Cenderawasih guna memeriahkan Hari Kemerdekaan. di negara itu pada September 2016.
Gubernur National Capital District (NCD) Port Moresby PNG, Hon Powes Parkop, di Jayapura, pekan lalu mengatakan pihaknya ingin lebih mempopulerkan grup musik “Black Brothers” di wilayah PNG.
“The legend are returning (legenda akan kembali) dengan kembali konsernya grup ‘Black Brothers’ khusus di PNG,” katanya sebagaimana dilansir Antara.
Menurut Powes, pihaknya akan membuat “Black Brothers” menjadi bintang internasional jika bisa konser di PNG sehingga grup legenda ini akan merasa senang dan dapat kembali kemudian hari untuk tampil di Port Moresby.
“Selain Black Brothers, kami juga akan menampilkan hiburan-hiburan dari Jakarta dan tempat lainnya, tapi yakin masyarakat akan lebih bersemangat dengan kehadiran grup legenda Papua,” ujarnya.
Catatan Jubi, Black Brother pertama kali lahir di Jayapura dengan nama Iriantos dan hijrah ke Jakarta sekitar 1976. Rekaman di Jakarta dan langsung menggebrak blantika musik Indonesia.
Andy Ayamiseba, manajer Grup Band Black Brothers, mengatakan Black Brothers bukan sekadar kelompok musisi biasa. Mereka memiliki visi dan misi utama untuk mengangkat martabat bangsanya yang selalu dibilang masih terbelakang.
“Misi dan visi yang kedua untuk menciptakan masyarakat yang adil dan sejahterah serta yang ketiga dan maha penting adalah untuk membebaskan bangsanya dari segala bentuk penindasan oleh kaum penjajah,”katanya,melalui akun Facebooknya, belum lama ini.
Menurut Ayamiseba, misi itu bisa dibuktikan dengan karya-karya mereka melalui syair lagu-lagu nya dan keputusan-keputusan yang diambil untuk meninggalkan ketenaran mereka di tanah airnya Indonesia. Bahkan, kemudian meninggalkan kontrak musik di EMI Holland dan akhirnya hijrah ke Vanuatu untuk menjalankan lobi OPM di kawasan Pasifik Selatan, termasuk PNG.
Para personel BB pun diseleksi berdasarkan potensi-potensi mereka secara individu agar produksi bisa mencapai hasil yang semaksimal mungkin. Jocky Phu, dijuluki si pena emas karena dia adalah penyair besar yang berwatak cinta damai dan keadilan. Kemudian, Hengky (alm) yang memiliki suara emas yang khas Black Brother dan sulit diganti oleh suara lain.
Sijari emas August Rumaropen (alm) dijuluki George Bensonnya Papua dengan watak halus dan rendah hati. Ada juga Benny pada bass dan Stevie si penabuh drum. Keduanya adalah tulang punggung rythm section-nya. Akhirnya David(Dullah) dan Amry yang menciptakan dandanan rythem musik BB. Paduan musik dan vokal mereka yang harmonis sesuai dengan melodi dan syair lagu-lagunya telah menembus nusantara dan Pasifik Selatan. Hal ini membuat grup musik Black Brother melegenda di Pasifik Selatan, Indonesia, dan Eropah dengan lagu Jalikoe.
“Saya selaku pendiri dan manajer sekaligus produser eksekutif supergroup ini sulit untuk mendapatkan musisi-musisi alam yang diberkati dengan talenta oleh Tuhan Yang Maha Kuasa seperti mereka. Saya sangat berterima kasih dan bangga karena diberkati dengan kesempatan untuk bekerja dengan group legendaris ini,”tulis Ayamiseba.
Sekadar diketahui, Black Brothers sangat terkenal di negara tetangga sepertiPapua Nugini dengan musik yang merupakan campuran antara rock, pop, reggae, funk dan etnis Papua.
Beberapa lagu pop mereka juga menjadi hits, seperti “Kisah Seorang Pramuria” yang kemudian di remake oleh band rock Boomerang.
Lagu mereka yang berjudul “Saman Doye” di 2011 masuk kompilasi “Those Shocking Shaking Days: Indonesian Hard, Psychedelic, Progressive Rock and Funk” bersama Koes Ploes, Aka, dan lainnya.
Personil “Black Brothers” terdiri dari Hengky MS (lead vocal/guitar), Yochie Pattipeilohy (organ), Benny Betay (bass guitar), David Rumagesang (terompet/rythm), Amry M. Kahar (saxophone) dan Stevie Mambor (drumer).
Grup musik ini melakukan hal yang sangat berani ketika pada 1979 mereka memprotes perlakuan pemerintah Indonesia terhadap Papua. (*)
PNGLoop – Papua New Guinea’s 41st Independence celebration in Port Moresby will be spiced up with a music performance by the Black Brothers band of West Papua Province of Indonesia.
The band’s name will sound all too familiar to the ears of middle aged Papua New Guineans.
The West Papua band had a following in the 70s in Papua New Guinea.
National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop, in making the announcement of the band’s visit, said the Black Brothers will be supported by their children, Black Sisters and CHM band.
Black Brothers made a tour to the country in the late 1970s.
The performance will be held at Sir John Guise Stadium on September 16.
Tickets will be going for K30 grandstand and K5 outer stand.
Meanwhile, commemoration of the country’s independence will be celebrated for three days in the nation’s capital, starting from 15th September.
Governor Parkop says there will be street festivals, traditional dancing and contemporary dances also in different parts of the city.
More than 150 years on, many descendants of the victims of blackbirders still don’t know about the dark history which brought around 60,000 Pacific Islanders to Australia.
About 60,000 Pacific Islanders were taken from their mainly Melanesian homelands to Australia in the 1800s to work on plantations. Photo: State Library of Queensland
The short film “Blackbird” has been helping to raise awareness about Australia’s blackbirding history which saw mainly Melanesians kidnapped and sent to work on plantations in the 1800s.
The film was the culmination of a long personal journey for Australian Solomon Island filmmaker, Amie Batalibasi, who wanted to find out more about the experiences of Pacific Islanders in Australia who were blackbirded.
Some people just died of heartbreak Amie Batalibasi
The late 19th century practice of “blackbirding” involved recruiting, often by force and deception, labourers from Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji to work on the sugar and cotton plantations of Queensland.
Although three of her ancestors were blackbirded, she said she knew very little about the history of the trade.
“This history is one that’s very much been shoved under the carpet in Australia, but what does remain is this oral history that has been passed down from generation to generation.
“And you know, I was very privileged to have worked with the South Sea Islander community in and around Brisbane, so through that, I was able to hear some of those stories.”
The cast of the film “Blackbird” Photo: Supplied
The cast of the film “Blackbird” Photo: Supplied
One of the film’s actors, Jeremy Bobby, said he also had no knowledge about Australia’s blackbirding history.
“To be quite honest, everyone that I speak to, and I say the term ‘blackbird’ – no one knows a clue and this is like, in Australia, this is in Brisbane.
All my friends in Brisbane, my family that I speak to, they really don’t know anything about it and it shows how much has been shoved under the rug, how much we actually haven’t been told.”
The main characters in “Blackbird”, Solomon Islander siblings Rosa and Kiko. They were blackbirded to work on a sugar cane plantation in Queensland in the late 1800s. Photo: Supplied
The main characters in “Blackbird”, Solomon Islander siblings Rosa and Kiko. They were blackbirded to work on a sugar cane plantation in Queensland in the late 1800s. Photo: Supplied
Blackbird tells the story of Solomon Islander siblings, Rosa and Kiko, who were kidnapped from their island home to work on a sugar cane plantation in Queensland in the late 1800s.
The stories shared by other South Sea Islanders who shed light on the experiences of their ancestors helped Ms Batalibasi during the film’s production.
“It was a lot about hardships and how people came over and a lot about the loss of culture and how hard it was and a lot about how people died as well.
Many of them died of sickness and actually one thing that I did hear was, many people mentioned that some people just died of heartbreak of just being taken and being in an alien environment and having such harsh conditions.”
Ms Batalibasi said question and answer sessions held after some of the film’s screenings allowed other descendants of Islanders who were blackbirded to share their stories as well.
The conglomerate appears to be concealing its involvement in the heavily forested region through offshore mechanisms.
One of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates, the Salim Group, has likely acquired four palm oil concessions in West Papua using a complex network of shared directorships and offshore companies, new research suggests.
Online watchdog awas MIFEE reported in May it had uncovered evidence that the four plantations — PT Rimbun Sawit Papua, PT Subur Karunia Raya, PT Bintuni Agro Prima Perkasa and PT Menara Wasior — were under the Salim Group’s control after discovering directorship and shareholding links that are not declared in the Salim Group’s stock exchange filings.
The organisation said the use of shell companies and offshore mechanisms appeared to be an attempt to distance the Salim Group from association with contentious projects and maintain a veneer of responsibility while quietly flouting its own sustainability guidelines, which include a ban on converting ecologically important High Conservation Value areas.
Deeds for the four concessionaires obtained by awas MIFEE show the firms all share addresses associated with the Salim Group, while many of their directors have previously worked for the conglomerate, which was founded by the late Liem Sioe Liong, also known as Sudono Salim, a prominent beneficiary of General Suharto’s decades-long New Order regime.
Despite the links with the Salim Group, the four companies have not been registered as subsidiaries of Indofood Agri Resources (IndoAgri), the company’s agribusiness division and a listed company on the Singapore Stock Exchange, or indeed any other publicly traded Salim Group firm, the research shows.
The Salim Group appears to have reacted to this challenge by picking and choosing which of its plantation assets [it integrates] into its publicly listed businesses, and carefully shielding the more problematic concessions behind layers of shell companies and offshore firms.
online environment watchdog awas MIFEE
IndoAgri is the third-largest private producer of crude palm oil and while other major producers, such as Wilmar and Sinar Mas, have cancelled expansion plans in heavily forested Papua, no such pledges have been made by the Salim Group.
“The Salim Group appears to have reacted to this challenge by picking and choosing which of its plantation assets [it integrates] into its publicly listed businesses, and carefully shielding the more problematic concessions behind layers of shell companies and offshore firms,” the organisation reports.
Selwyn Moran of awas MIFEE said it was only in the last five years that Papua had become a frontier region for palm oil expansion, endangering vulnerable ecosystems, many of which had not yet been surveyed by ecologists.
“There are also serious concerns for the indigenous people of Papua. In most, if not all existing palm oil plantations, local indigenous communities living nearby have complained that the plantations have brought them no benefit,” he said, “and instead they have lost the forest they depended on for their subsistence — the sago palms which are their staple food, the animals they hunt, and other forest products which they sell.”
Despite being less exposed to international supply chains than its competitors, IndoAgri has attempted to placate critics of its practices by joining the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and publishing regular sustainability reports, which awas MIFEE said was evidence of “greenwashing.”
But the evidence suggests the conglomerate continues to invest in plantations in the Papua region, Moran said.
Satellite images taken in February of the Rimbun Sawit Papua concession in Fakfak district show roads have been constructed in much of the southwest of the plot, while a recruitment firm has been hired to source some 1,200 migrant workers from Java. Apparent shell companies — PT Palmandiri Plantation and PT Sawit Timur Nusantara — registered to known Salim Group addresses in Jakarta bought a majority stake in the company in 2011.
“Apart from the direct habitat loss, an influx of people to the area as workers would also put stress on the surrounding forest, as more people would go hunting wildlife such as cassowaries, song birds and forest marsupials like cuscus,” said Moran.
In the Kebar Valley, about 100 kilometers west of Manokwari city, Bintuni Agro Prima Perkasa was granted a permit for 19,369 hectares in September 2014 after it was bought out in July of that year by PT Cahaya Agro Pratama, which also has a significant stake in Rimbun Sawit Papua, while several of its directors have links to other Salim Group enterprises.
North of Bintuni town, Subur Karunia Raya holds a permit to develop 38,700 hectares of what was once state forest land, where work was reportedly started late last year. A Salim Group-linked company holds almost all of the shares, the remainder being owned by its director, Rapman Hutabarat, who is also on the board of Rimbun Sawit Papua. Several other directors and commissioners hold positions at other Salim Group-linked firms.
Of the four plantations, the 28,280-hectare concession held by Menara Wasior is to date the most noteworthy for the outspoken opposition of the local Mairasi and Miere tribes of Teluk Wondama district. The memory of a bloody 2001 assault on the local communities by security forces working for two logging companies has left many traumatised and, along with ongoing confrontations with loggers, has contributed to widespread opposition to the plans. The firm, as with the others, is registered to the same address as a company that has numerous Salim Group-linked directors on its board.
Edi Suryanto, a Salim Group representative, referred questions to Muhammad Waras, sustainability manager for PT Salim Ivomas Pratama, the Salim Group’s palm oil arm. At the time of writing Waras had not responded to requests for comment.
Jago Wadley, senior forest campaigner at the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), said the links presented in awas MIFEE’s research had highlighted the “fundamental risks” to the sustainability policies of Salim Group customers such as Wilmar and Golden Agri Resources, which have pledged to eliminate deforestation and rights abuses from their supply chains.
“Companies that violate the policies of their customers risk losing their customers. EIA urges progressive palm oil buyers to send a clear message to palm oil barons that they will no longer tolerate mass deforestation and land grabbing where such practices undermine their own corporate reputations and customer base,” he said.
Moran of awas MIFEE said the Salim Group’s apparent interests in West Papua were not uncommon.
“Across Indonesia, palm oil companies have been guilty of bulldosing community lands just as they have flattened biodiverse forests. People, biodiversity, and the global climate are often the victims. Papua is no different. Responsible buyers are seeking to distance their supply chains from such outcomes, while some of the palm oil barons that supply them seek to continue business-as-usual expansion.”
Except for Menara Wasior, the Salim Group-linked concessions have all obtained permission to develop the land from the forestry ministry, which has promised to audit existing licenses in the wake of last year’s fire and haze crisis, after which President Joko Widodo declared a moratorium on new palm oil permits.
“If the government does review permits for plantations which have not yet started planting, it must also conduct a full review of active plantations,” said Moran.
“It should recognise that the way permits have been allocated in recent years, characterized by a lack of transparency, frequent irregularities, inadequate social and environmental impact assessments and a failure to allow local indigenous communities to freely decide the future of their ancestral land, have meant that several existing plantations are subject to ongoing disputes which are continuing to seriously affect those local communities.”
This story was published with permission from Mongabay.com
Five tiny Pacific islands have disappeared due to rising seas and erosion, a discovery thought to be the first scientific confirmation of the impact of climate change on coastlines in the Pacific, according to Australian researchers.
The submerged islands were part of the Solomon Islands, an archipelago that over the last two decades has seen annual sea levels rise as much as 10mm (0.4in), according to research published in the May issue of the online journal Environmental Research Letters.
The missing islands, ranging in size from 1 to 5 hectares (2.5-12.4 acres) were not inhabited by humans.
But six other islands had large swaths of land washed into the sea and on two of those, entire villages were destroyed and people forced to relocate, the researchers found.
One was Nuatambu island, home to 25 families, which has lost 11 houses and half its inhabitable area since 2011, the research said.
The study is the first that scientifically “confirms the numerous anecdotal accounts from across the Pacific of the dramatic impacts of climate change on coastlines and people,” the researchers wrote in a separate commentary on an academic website.
The scientists used aerial and satellite images dating back to 1947 of 33 islands, as well as traditional knowledge and radiocarbon dating of trees for their findings.
The Solomon Islands, a nation made up of hundreds of islands and with a population of about 640,000, lies about 1,000 miles north-east of Australia.
The study raises questions about the role of government in relocation planning, said a Solomon Islands official.
Map of Nuatambu Island.
“This ultimately calls for support from development partners and international financial mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund,” Melchior Mataki, head of the Solomon Islands’ National Disaster Council, was quoted as saying in the commentary.
The Green Climate Fund, part of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, was founded to help countries deal with climate change.
Ad hoc relocation has occurred on the islands, the study said. Several Nuatambu islanders moved to a neighbouring, higher volcanic island, the study said. Other people were forced to move from the island of Nararo.
Sirilo Sutaroti, 94, is among those who had to relocate from Nararo. He told researchers: “The sea has started to come inland, it forced us to move up to the hilltop and rebuild our village there away from the sea.”
New research factors in collapsing Antarctic ice sheet that could double the sea-level rise to two metres by 2100 if emissions are not cut
Antarctica’s snowfall was expected to keep the ice sheet in balance but it is less stable than previously thought. Photograph: Steve Mandel / Barcroft Media
Sea levels could rise far more rapidly than expected in coming decades, according to new research that reveals Antarctica’s vast ice cap is less stable than previously thought.
The UN’s climate science body had predicted up to a metre of sea level rise this century – but it did not anticipate any significant contribution from Antarctica, where increasing snowfall was expected to keep the ice sheet in balance.
According a study, published in the journal Nature, collapsing Antarctic ice sheets are expected to double sea-level rise to two metres by 2100, if carbon emissions are not cut.
Previously, only the passive melting of Antarctic ice by warmer air and seawater was considered but the new work added active processes, such as the disintegration of huge ice cliffs.
“This [doubling] could spell disaster for many low-lying cities,” said Prof Robert DeConto, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, who led the work. He said that if global warming was not halted, the rate of sea-level rise would change from millimetres per year to centimetres a year. “At that point it becomes about retreat [from cities], not engineering of defences.”
As well as rising seas, climate change is also causing storms to become fiercer, forming a highly destructive combination for low-lying cities like New York, Mumbai and Guangzhou. Many coastal cities are growing fast as populations rise and analysis by World Bank and OECD staff has shown that global flood damage could cost them $1tn a year by 2050 unless action is taken.
The cities most at risk in richer nations include Miami, Boston and Nagoya, while cities in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh and Ivory Coast are among those most in danger in less wealthy countries.
“The bad news is that in the business-as-usual, high-emissions scenario, we end up with very, very high estimates of the contribution of Antarctica to sea-level rise” by 2100, DeConto told the Guardian. But he said that if emissions were quickly slashed to zero, the rise in sea level from Antarctic ice could be reduced to almost nothing.
“This is the good news,” he said. “It is not too late and that is wonderful. But we can’t say we are 100% out of the woods.” Even if emissions are slashed, DeConto said, there remains a 10% chance that sea level will rise significantly.
Prof David Vaughan, at the British Antarctic Survey and not part of the research team, said: “The new model includes for the first time a projection of how in future, the Antarctic ice sheet may to lose ice through processes that today we only see occurring in Greenland.
“I have no doubt that on a century to millennia timescale, warming will make these processes significant in Antarctica and drive a very significant Antarctic contribution to sea level rise. The big question for me is, how soon could this all begin. I’m not sure, but these guys are definitely asking the right questions.”
Active physical processes are well-known ways of breaking up ice sheets but had not been included in complex 3D models of the Antarctic ice sheet before. The processes include water from melting on the surface of the ice sheet to flow down into crevasses and widen them further. “Meltwater can have a really deleterious effect,” said DeConto. “It’s an attack on the ice sheet from above as well as below.”
Today, he said, summer temperatures approach or just exceed freezing point around Antarctica: “It would not take much warming to see a pretty dramatic increase [in surface melting] and it would happen very quickly.”
The new models also included the loss of floating ice shelves from the coast of Antarctica, which currently hold back the ice on land. The break-up of ice shelves can also leave huge ice cliffs 1,000m high towering over the ocean, which then collapse under their own weight, pushing up sea level even further.
The scientists calibrated their model against geological records of events 125,000 years ago and 3m years ago, when the temperature was similar to today but sea level was much higher.
Sea-level rise is also driven by the expansion of water as it gets warmer and in January scientists suggested this factor had been significantly underestimated, adding further weight to concerns about future rises.
