What will be the future for my family if Kiribati no longer exists? This was in my mind as I returned from visiting them on my small island home late last year.
While climate change continues to be one of the most controversial global issues of our time, for me it is past talk and is already a frightening reality.
My name is Kateia Kaikai and I am a Marist Mission Sister who worked as a volunteer in the Columban Mission Institute’s Centre for Peace, Ecology and Justice in Sydney until late 2014. Climate change is affecting my people’s daily lives right now.
I fear for the future of my nephew and niece. Will there be anything of our unique culture for them to learn or to carry forward? What will their future be like? They along with the rest of the people of Kiribati, are experiencing the intrusion of sea water into ground water. This will be the main cause of the degradation and possible destruction of Kiribati as a nation and as a people with a particular culture and identity.
I saw much evidence of other changes taking place, affecting the landscape and lifestyle of the islands of South Tarawa where I am originally from. I could not visit beautiful fishing spots I used to know or go out in the outrigger canoe to some swimming places with my younger brother Kaewaka and Uncle Moote because they have been ruined by coral bleaching. I didn’t see children or women collecting shellfish out in the sea at low tide. Most of the men now set out fishing at early dawn and return by 11 am before the sun gets very hot.
Life on Kiribati is getting tough. Most obvious is coastal erosion, coral bleaching, drought and particularly contaminated ground water. At first, the residents of Kiribati had a hard time accepting the fact that the oceans really are rising as a result of climate change. But with evidence and education they have been forced to. Families in my community are becoming resilient and innovative in finding creative ways to adapt to its impacts that are slowly and gradually disrupting their way of life. 
Kiribati is known for a high rate of infant mortality, so parents are particularly careful to provide everyone with rain water or boiled ground water for drinking. My family spent money to install a water tank to collect rain water that can be used for drinking and cooking. An overhead tank with a water pump is used to collect water from a well to use for laundry, watering the garden and for toilets and shower. They have also developed new ways to recycle leaves to retain water by creating banana circles. Recycled leaves and nutrient soil from pig pens are useful for small vegetable gardens. This helps them maintain good health and a balanced diet, particularly for the children.
However most families in the community cannot afford tanks and pumps. As the sea level rises, residents of Kiribati crowd onto less and less land. Our fishermen are battling with the rising temperature affecting the reefs, and subsequently the fish stocks. It is predicted that by 2050, Kiribati will lose a third of its GDP and most parts of the islands will suffer sea level intrusion.
We are the human faces of climate change and will possibly become the first island nation to lose our home – and along with it our fragile culture and identity, our language and traditions that are tied so strongly to our tiny atolls . But there is still hope that something can be done .
I was grateful for the work I did with the Columbans in the areas of peace, ecology and justice. It helped me understand the issue of Climate Change and to be able to raise awareness about Climate Justice. 
In small island states in the Pacific like Kiribati, economic growth is a lesser priority than climate change threats to humanity and ecology. We are known as peaceful and friendly people and we would love to continue living that way with one another and other living species in our home land. Land and ocean is our life. How can there be economic growth or prosperity if we neglect our duty to care for our earth.
On behalf of my nieces and nephews I would like to urge uncommitted developed countries, like Australia, Russia and India to join the allied United Nations to end the use of fossil fuels and turn to Sustainable Energy. This is the most desirable action that will ensure a safe and promising future not just for Kiribati but for planet earth and the next generations who depends so much on what we do today.
Sr Kataia Kaikai was a volunteer at the Columban Mission Institute’s Centre for Peace, Ecology and Justice