The long, winding road to a climate-resilient Pacific
Not only do rising seas and intensifying storms monster the shore and threaten homes, the global consequences of emitting more greenhouse gases extends to food and income security concerns for her family.
Ms Tony lives in the village of Unakap on Nguna, one of Vanuatu's small islands off the north coast of Efate and about 4000km east of Cairns.
In the 15 years she's resided there, growing fruit and vegetables has become harder especially after cyclones that bring destructive insects in their wake.
Her husband is also catching fewer fish due to reef and ecosystem damage from extreme weather, higher seawater temperatures and ocean acidification.
Their family of five is able to make money to buy food from local markets but one of their income sources, the mats Ms Tony makes from pandanus leaves, has taken a hit.
To weave them, along with fans, purses and baskets, the leaves need to be dry but more rain than is typical has been shrinking her output and the cash she generates selling her wares.
Living in an archipelago vulnerable to volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides, ni-Vanuatu are no strangers to disaster and the long road to recovery that follows.
But the addition of climate change impacts and extreme weather events including more intense cyclones and storms are making it harder to bounce back.
World Vision humanitarian emergency security affairs manager Pallen Abraham Philip says the country has always experienced cyclones but they are becoming stronger and increasingly hitting out of season.
"They're still in the recovery mode, then the next hits," he tells AAP.
Category five system Pam, to which Australia was a first responder, devastated the country in 2015, and there have been other severe storms since including twin tropical cyclones Judy and Kevin that tore similar pathways just days apart in 2023.
A lot of money is needed to help vulnerable regional and rural communities recover and adapt and there is at least some funding funnelled into Vanuatu through a complex web of instruments and programs.
On Nguna and neighbouring islands, dedicated global project the Green Climate Fund is supported by the Vanuatu government and humanitarian organisation Save the Children.
Australia's $50 million contribution is part of its broader $100 million package of initiatives to foster preparedness including the Pacific Resilience Facility.
This, in turn, allows the Pacific to invest in small-grant but high-impact initiatives to help make communities disaster-ready.
Whitely Tasaruru, who is the Nguna and Pele area climate change manager within Vanuatu's Community-based Climate Resilience Project, says each village has its own set of issues and preferred fixes.
His job is partly about making sure various adaptation measures like coastal tree planting, sea wall construction and coral restoration mesh cohesively.
For Nguna, gradually relocating low-lying villages to higher ground on the island is the long-term goal.
In the meantime, the community wants to buy extra time by protecting buildings and infrastructure, including the road connecting communities close to the shore.
Planting more vegetation and trees along the shoreline should help, Mr Tasaruru says, as will a planned sea wall in a spot known to be vulnerable to erosion.
But sometimes climate impact solutions can unintentionally create new problems.
For example, work under way to build a road to higher ground for relocating households has been reliant on mining sand on the island's beach for the slab cement structure.
But extracting the sand has created openings and channels on the beach that are leaving nearby settlements more exposed to storm surge and wash damage.
"Many community members here have concerns," Mr Tasaruru tells AAP.
He believes sourcing sand from Port Vila, the city on the mainland island of Efate, is a better option.
On neighbouring Pele, Salome Kalo from Pilliura village has been instrumental in getting solar-generated food drying up and running.
Located on sandy and therefore less productive soil, food security has become an issue for the village, especially when compounded by storms and unfavourable weather.
To give themselves more flexibility, villagers have been preserving fruit, vegetables and other produce using a solar-powered dryer that blows warm air to prevent moisture.
"It helps us a lot," Ms Kalo says.
But a few months ago, the dryer in her village was destroyed in a storm.
"We have to build that again this month."
Like on the neighbouring island, Pele communities have scouted out higher ground to move to over time.
Edward Lani, also from Pilliura village, expects their way of life to change when forced to relocate away from the beach.
"There are people who live along the coast, they depend entirely on the ocean for food but if they move inland, it would change their way of getting food for the household," he says.
But for Mr Lani, moving inland is not his biggest concern.
He is more worried young people will leave the island entirely to avoid worsening environmental conditions.
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Helen Tony's life in a small and low-lying coastal village in the South Pacific is made increasingly difficult by a changing climate. Not only do rising seas and intensifying storms monster the shore and threaten homes, the global consequences of emitting more greenhouse gases extends to food and income security concerns for her family. Ms Tony lives in the village of Unakap on Nguna, one of Vanuatu's small islands off the north coast of Efate and about 4000km east of Cairns. In the 15 years she's resided there, growing fruit and vegetables has become harder especially after cyclones that bring destructive insects in their wake. Her husband is also catching fewer fish due to reef and ecosystem damage from extreme weather, higher seawater temperatures and ocean acidification. Their family of five is able to make money to buy food from local markets but one of their income sources, the mats Ms Tony makes from pandanus leaves, has taken a hit. To weave them, along with fans, purses and baskets, the leaves need to be dry but more rain than is typical has been shrinking her output and the cash she generates selling her wares. Living in an archipelago vulnerable to volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis and landslides, ni-Vanuatu are no strangers to disaster and the long road to recovery that follows. But the addition of climate change impacts and extreme weather events including more intense cyclones and storms are making it harder to bounce back. World Vision humanitarian emergency security affairs manager Pallen Abraham Philip says the country has always experienced cyclones but they are becoming stronger and increasingly hitting out of season. "They're still in the recovery mode, then the next hits," he tells AAP. Category five system Pam, to which Australia was a first responder, devastated the country in 2015, and there have been other severe storms since including twin tropical cyclones Judy and Kevin that tore similar pathways just days apart in 2023. A lot of money is needed to help vulnerable regional and rural communities recover and adapt and there is at least some funding funnelled into Vanuatu through a complex web of instruments and programs. On Nguna and neighbouring islands, dedicated global project the Green Climate Fund is supported by the Vanuatu government and humanitarian organisation Save the Children. Australia's $50 million contribution is part of its broader $100 million package of initiatives to foster preparedness including the Pacific Resilience Facility. This, in turn, allows the Pacific to invest in small-grant but high-impact initiatives to help make communities disaster-ready. Whitely Tasaruru, who is the Nguna and Pele area climate change manager within Vanuatu's Community-based Climate Resilience Project, says each village has its own set of issues and preferred fixes. His job is partly about making sure various adaptation measures like coastal tree planting, sea wall construction and coral restoration mesh cohesively. For Nguna, gradually relocating low-lying villages to higher ground on the island is the long-term goal. In the meantime, the community wants to buy extra time by protecting buildings and infrastructure, including the road connecting communities close to the shore. Planting more vegetation and trees along the shoreline should help, Mr Tasaruru says, as will a planned sea wall in a spot known to be vulnerable to erosion. But sometimes climate impact solutions can unintentionally create new problems. 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Chief executive Amanda McKenzie told AAP the federal government needed to step up and tackle the crisis when delivering its 2035 targets in the coming months. A weak climate target was not a passive choice, she said. "We found the weaker the target, the more risk of damage and disaster. We wanted to emphasise that if you're advocating for weak targets, that is an active commitment to greater global disruption and damage," Ms McKenzie said. "Those who advocate for weak targets must articulate clearly their costed plans to support, relocate or protect the Australian community through unprecedented social and economic breakdown." The report revealed that Australia has already warmed by an average of 1.51C since national records began in 1910. If global temperatures rise by 3C, the country would become unrecognisable after suffering catastrophic impacts. Days reaching 50C could be common in cities such as Sydney and Melbourne and the number of extreme fire days could double. A one-metre rise in sea levels, which is possible by the end of the century could put 160,000 to 250,000 properties at risk of coastal flooding. "The combination of rising sea levels and increasingly intense low-pressure systems and cyclones greatly increases the damage from storm surges, inundation and coastal erosion," the report says. "Extreme heat, bushfires and severe storms put mounting pressure on urban infrastructure and dwellings, rendering many properties and businesses uninsurable." The report reveals strong targets are essential to protect Australians from worsening climate harm, open economic opportunities in clean industries, and enhance security relationships in the region. It noted any target set lower than this raises the level of risk for families, community, economy and national security. Australia also faces a staggering $4.2 trillion economic hit over the next 50 years if climate continues unchecked, the report found. The federal government will set an "ambitious and achievable" 2035 emissions reduction target and commit to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with its Net Zero Plan due in late-2025. The pledge aligns with the Paris agreement, which Australia and 195 other parties adopted in 2015, which aims to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C and less than 2C. Capital cities across Australia could face scorching temperatures exceeding 50C alongside a surge in extreme fire days unless the nation urgently slashes climate pollution and adopts a strong 2035 emissions target, the Climate Council warns. The independent climate science organisation finds climate change is accelerating faster than previously predicted, and global efforts to combat it are falling dangerously short. The Climate Council's Stronger Target, Safer Future report published on Wednesday calls for Australia to cut climate pollution by 75 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and reach net zero by 2035. 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Chief executive Amanda McKenzie told AAP the federal government needed to step up and tackle the crisis when delivering its 2035 targets in the coming months. A weak climate target was not a passive choice, she said. "We found the weaker the target, the more risk of damage and disaster. We wanted to emphasise that if you're advocating for weak targets, that is an active commitment to greater global disruption and damage," Ms McKenzie said. "Those who advocate for weak targets must articulate clearly their costed plans to support, relocate or protect the Australian community through unprecedented social and economic breakdown." The report revealed that Australia has already warmed by an average of 1.51C since national records began in 1910. If global temperatures rise by 3C, the country would become unrecognisable after suffering catastrophic impacts. Days reaching 50C could be common in cities such as Sydney and Melbourne and the number of extreme fire days could double. 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