With support from Oxfam and funding by DFAT’s Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP), the Kiribati Climate Action Network (KiriCAN) is building collaborative climate action by providing youth with opportunities to implement climate change strategies that draw on tradition and culture.

President of the Rotary Youth Club and volunteer KiriCAN Project Officer, Miriam Moriati, says traditional ways of preserving food, mangrove planting, with cultural dances is part of the work KiriCAN does to raise awareness of climate change action in high schools, primary schools and kindergartens.

In the Pacific, cultural dance is used to tell the story of climate change.

Miriam explains: “Our highest point [on Tarawa] is three meters above sea level. And it's very thin, very small, very flat. And I think that's why a lot of people don't really notice how vulnerable it is to live in Kiribati.

Since climate change is now a part of our story, we're thinking of interpreting it in the dances that we do, so everyone can see what great impact climate change has on our culture. I think that's one reason why KiriCAN is also exploring to incorporate climate change storytelling in our culture dances”.