Climate change on three Polynesian outliers in the Solomon Islands: Impacts, vulnerability and adaptation

Geografisk Tidsskrift—Danish Journal of Geography 109(1):1–13, 2009 Past and current impacts of climate change on three smalt islands, Ontong Java, Bellona and Tikopia, in the Solomon Islands are studied on the basis of a survey of production systems, household questionnaires and key informant and group interviews. Perceptions of the local population are compared to regional observations on climate variability and change. The adaptive measures taken in the past are identified. It is concluded that the capacity to cope with and adapt to climate variability and extreme weather events is well developed, and the social resilience of island communities appears to be high. It is further shown that the differences between islands are large with regard to the types of climate change observed, the exposure of the islands to the changes and the perceptions of the severity. The differences are due to location, bio-physical and terrain conditions and socio-economic factors, including the level of integration into a greater economic and demographic context, the importance of different productive activities and the social organization.