The University of the South Pacific (USP) led a 24-hour global plenary as part of the Right Here, Right Now Summit held last week to coincide with World Environment Day.
The global summit on climate change and human rights is hosted by the University of Oxford in partnership with UN Human Rights, the Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Alliance, the International Universities Climate Alliance and co-host universities across the world.
In collaboration with the Pacific Island Students Fighting for Climate Change (PISFCC), the USP session at Laucala Campus in Suva, Fiji featured discussions on PISFCC’s journey to The Hague and the significance of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) Advisory Opinion for climate justice.
Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Regional Campuses and Global Engagement) Dr Manumatavai Tupou-Roosen, opened the event and applauded the commitment of youth leaders championing climate action in the Pacific.
“Connecting our sea of islands and proudly serving our people, we recognise the important opportunity and responsibility for USP and all of us to fully support our youth leaders in tackling climate change,” she said.
Delivering the partner address, UN Human Rights Deputy Regional Representative for the Pacific, Thomas Hunecke, emphasised the region’s moral authority in the global climate justice movement.
“Climate change is a human rights issue. In the Pacific, it is not just about the environment, it is about people, their cultural identity, land, family, and future generations,” he stated.
Hunecke shared on the importance of inclusivity in the fight against climate change.
“In the Pacific, this means ensuring that remote ethno-communities, women and youth, persons with disabilities, older persons and people of diverse zodiacs are not only included but meaningful and engaged. Because when one voice is excluded, we all lose part of the solution.”
A key feature of the summit was an interactive panel discussion moderated by USP Political Science Senior Lecturer Dr Milla Vaha. The panel included the High Commissioner of Vanuatu to Fiji, Her Excellency Viranria Brown, Pacific Conference of Churches representative, Frances Namoumou, PISFCC representative, Siosiua Veikune, Norway-Pacific Ocean-Climate Scholarship Programme (N-POC) PhD student, Kiali Molu and Calvy Aonima.
The panel explored the Pacific’s leadership in advancing the historic campaign to seek an advisory opinion from the ICJ on climate change and human rights. Speaker
s underscored the urgency of youth activism, regional solidarity, and inclusive, intergenerational approaches rooted in Pacific knowledge and values.
USP final-year environmental science student, Jacky Garae described the summit as an eye-opening experience.
“The summit was very educational, and it was an honour to have witnessed firsthand the impact and influence young people can have,” Garae shared.
“The programme has enabled me to understand how climate change not only affects the environment, but also affects our human rights as well.”
The summit also served as a creative platform for poets, spoken word artists, and visual storytellers, who presented powerful works that captured the emotional and cultural depth of the climate crisis.
Through poetry, performance, and art installations, they gave voice to the lived realities of Pacific communities and emphasised the profound connection between the environment, identity, and justice.
The Right Here, Right Now Summit reaffirmed the Pacific’s unwavering commitment to global climate justice and its leadership in ensuring that frontline communities are not only heard but at the heart of the global response.
Participating universities also included the University of Cape Town, University of Colorado Boulder, Himalayan University Consortium, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Monash University, University of Nairobi, Universidade de São Paulo, UNSW Sydney and the The University of the West Indies.
