From dying reefs to flooded graves, Vanuatu is leading a global climate case

PORT VILA Vanuatu AP When John Warmington first began diving the reefs outside his home in Vanuatu s Havannah Harbor a decade ago the coral rose like a sunken forest tall stands of staghorns branched into yellow antlers plate corals layered like canopies and clouds of darting fish wove through the labyrinth We used to know every inch of that reef he stated It was like a friend Now it s unrecognizable After Cyclone Pam battered the reef in sediment from inland rivers smothered the coral beds Crown-of-thorns starfish swept in and devoured the recovering polyps Back-to-back cyclones in crushed what was left Then in December a magnitude earthquake shook the seabed What remains is a coral graveyard bleached rubble scattered across the seafloor habitats collapsed life vanished We ve come out of the water in tears commented Warmington who has logged thousands of dives on this single reef We just see heartbreak That heartbreak is becoming more common across this Pacific island nation where intensifying cyclones rising seas and saltwater intrusion are reshaping coastlines and threatening daily life Since sea levels around Vanuatu s shores have risen by about millimeters inches per year significantly faster than the global average and in a few areas tectonic activity has doubled that rate International court to opine on nations obligations to address atmosphere change On Wednesday Vanuatu will get its day in the world s highest court The International Court of Justice will issue an advisory opinion on what legal obligations nations have to address surroundings change and what consequences they may face if they don t The scenario led by Vanuatu and backed by more than countries is seen as a anticipated turning point in international context law Seeing large polluting countries just continue business as usual and not take the conditions predicament seriously can get really sad and disappointing commented -year-old conditions activist Vepaiamele Trief If they rule in our favor that could change everything The opinion won t be legally binding but could help shape future efforts to hold major emitters accountable and secure the funding and action small island nations need to adapt or survive It comes after decades of frustration for Pacific nations who ve watched their homelands disappear In Tuvalu where the average elevation is just meters feet more than a third of the population has applied for a state migration visa to Australia By much of the country is projected to be under water at high tide In Nauru the regime has begun selling passports to wealthy foreigners offering visa-free access to dozens of countries in a bid to generate revenue for accomplishable relocation efforts The agreements being made at an international level between states are not moving fast enough announced Ralph Regenvanu Vanuatu s minister for context change They re definitely not being met according to what the science tells us requirements to happen Vanuatu has already sought opinions from other international courts and is pushing for the recognition of ecocide the destruction of the surroundings as a crime under the International Criminal Court We have to keep fighting till the last bit Regenvanu announced How setting change is decimating Vanuatu For children in Vanuatu environment change isn t a theory it s a classroom or the lack of one At Sainte Jeanne D Arc school on Efate Island elementary school professor Noellina Tavi has spent two of the last three years teaching her students in tents first after the cyclones and again following the earthquake With a shortage of emergency tents her class was combined with another Students fidget and lose focus It s too crowded Tavi explained We can t work peacefully When it rains the tents turn cold and muddy Tavi often sends students home so they don t get sick Anytime a storm approaches the tents must be dismantled the furniture carried to shelter and the children sent home That disrupts their tuition for a whole week she declared In rural areas extreme weather hits something even more basic food precaution On Nguna Island farmer Kaltang Laban has watched cyclones wipe out the banana cassava and taro crops that feed his district After a cyclone we would have nothing for months he revealed Now with promotion from Save the Children Laban and other farmers are storing preserved fruits and vegetables in a facility beside their gardens But not every district has this he commented More than of Vanuatu s population lives in rural areas and depends on small-scale farming In USAID cut funding for a rainwater harvesting initiative designed to improve water access at cyclone evacuation centers in one of the country s majority of remote drought-prone provinces explained Vomboe Shem conditions lead for Save the Children Vanuatu The materials had already been shipped and distributed but the project was halted These disasters are happening over and over again Shem explained It s pushing our communities to their limits Not all of these impacts can be pinned solely on circumstances change explained Christina Shaw CEO of the Vanuatu Environmental Science Society Coastal maturation tectonic sinking volcanic eruptions deforestation and impurity are also contributing to ecosystem decline Vanuatu s milieu is quite fragile by its inherent nature in that it s young with narrow reefs has small amounts of topsoil and is insulted regularly by natural disasters she noted But we do have to think about the other human impacts on our habitat as well The damage isn t limited to homes gardens and reefs it s reaching into places once thought to be untouchable On the island of Pele village chief Amos Kalsont sits at his brother s grave as waves lap against broken headstones half-buried in sand At high tide both his brother s and father s graves sit just a minimal arm s lengths from the sea Certain homes and gardens have already been moved inland and saltwater intrusion has tainted the region s primary drinking water source Now the public is considering relocating the entire village but that would mean leaving the land their grandparents cleared by hand The sea is catching up and we don t know what else to do Kalsont stated It s not fair that we have to face the consequences when we didn t contribute to this in the first place A large number of in Vanuatu remain committed to building something stronger and hope the rest of the world will backing them This is our future and it s particularly our children s future our grandchildren s future explained Regenvanu We just have to keep pushing for the best one we can Back in Havannah Harbor John Warmington still dives the reef he considers part of his family While much of it is gone he and his wife Sandy have begun replanting coral fragments in hopes of restoring what s left Our friend is still here he mentioned Life is coming back Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram ahammergram The Associated Press weather and environmental coverage 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