Photo: Cook Islander and University of Auckland Professor, Yvonne Underhill-Sem MNZM. Reetrieved from cookislandsnews.com

Excerpt from cookislandsnews.com

Two Cook Islanders are at the helm of new Pacific research into population dynamics of the Pacific – home to a population of 13 million – projected to become 20 million by 2050.

Professor Yvonne Underhill-Sem MNZM, co-lead of the University of Auckland research team, and Dr Tina Newport are working alongside Dr Roannie Ng Shiu (from Samoa) on the comprehensive report.

The report, released yesterday, is the first product of the University’s major Pacific-led research project on climate mobility.

The research is looking at where and how climate-related events and environmental changes (such as cyclones, floods, drought, salination of soil and drinking water, heat stress, and sea level rise) will impact Pacific people’s decisions to ‘stay in place’, or to move: whether within countries, around the region, or beyond, including to NZ.

Prof Underhill-Sem hopes that actionable research findings with a Pacific lens will assist in addressing the serious challenges of climate mobility. The research aims to better inform government policy making, in support of effective, long-term and sustainable change.