Abstract
Domestic sea transport is critical to all aspects of life in the Pacific, providing access to markets and health and education services, as well as enabling cultural and social connectivity. Current sea transport services are entirely dependent upon use of increasingly expensive fossil fuels. Whilst there has been increasing research on international shipping, very little focus has been given to date to domestic shipping in the Pacific, and in particular at the local, village level. Recent studies have highlighted lack of data, particularly at a village level, as being a major impediment to progressing a shift to more sustainable transport. The importance of transport in achieving sustainable development and “green growth” is being increasingly highlighted by Pacific Leaders as a key priority, and particularly the need to find alternatives to reduce the region’s crippling dependency on imported fossil fuels. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in other regions also face similar challenges. This paper provides a summary of the findings of a village-based assessment of transport and fossil fuel use in Solodamu Village, Kadavu, Fiji carried out in 2009 and 2011. The objectives of the surveys were to gauge the overall sea, land and air transport use by the village and the fossil fuel footprint of the village by collecting data on a household by household basis. We then go on to outline how this assessment methodology has been expanded for an island group and highlight the potential of using this in other SIDS, so building the data sets available for more accurate analysis of both transport need and fossil fuel use to better address the issues of fossil fuel dependency and sustainable transport for the Pacific.
Highlights
Transport is a priority for Pacific Forum Leaders under the Framework for Pacific Regionalism and its predecessor the Pacific Plan and its importance as a facilitator of economic growth is well recognized (ADB, 2007; UNESCAP, 2010; SPC, 2011; UNCTAD, 2014a,b,c)
We look at how this is being extended in Fiji to an island group level and the potential for use of this methodology in other Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
The key driver in undertaking the assessment was the desire of the villagers themselves to better plan for their future and to identify sustainable solutions, the research being driven by the community itself supported by outside assistance
Summary
Transport is a priority for Pacific Forum Leaders under the Framework for Pacific Regionalism and its predecessor the Pacific Plan and its importance as a facilitator of economic growth is well recognized (ADB, 2007; UNESCAP, 2010; SPC, 2011; UNCTAD, 2014a,b,c). Sea-transport is essential at all levels of society from fishing and the local transport needs of small isolated islands and villages to inter-regional shipping needs of nation states. The need for sustainable transportation and mobility to enable sustainable development was highlighted by Pacific leaders at the Third International Conference of Small Islands Developing States in Samoa in September 2014 (United Nations, 2014). All maritime transport services are fossil-fuel powered and are becoming increasingly unsustainable as operational costs and the costs of fossil fuels increase. Despite recent reductions in fuel costs, the international shipping industry and researchers continue to predict that fuel costs will increase over time (see, for example Lloyds Register, 2015). Any increase in transport costs immediately impacts maintenance of social and cultural connectivity as well as economic development
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