Pacific feminists are at the forefront of urgent struggles for climate, ecological, economic, and social justice and human rights. These 17 demands are a clarion call for systemic change to protect Pacific people, land, oceans, and our future. They are grounded in lived realities and the wisdom of generations of Pacific people. They reflect a vision for equity, ecological balance, sovereignty, justice, and liberation.
Pacific social movements and networks engaged in this urgent gender and climate justice work include: DIVA for Equality, Pacific Islands Feminist Alliance for Climate Justice (PIFA4CJ), Pacific Conference of Churches, Pacific Disability Forum, Nei Mom Uprising, Shifting the Power Coalition, Tulele Pesa, Jo Jikum, Kustom Keepers, Mariana Islands Nature Alliance (CNMI), PICAN, Alliance for Future Generations, and many more.
1. Mitigation
Bring carbon emissions and temperature down NOW. No carbon trading. ALL MUST ACT!
2. Adaptation, Resilience & DRR
We adapt to climate change and lower risk – AND we will resist climate injustice, always!
3. Loss & Damage
Acknowledge, measure, and fund both economic and non-economic losses and damage from climate impacts. Not in the future – it’s happening to us now.
4. Accountability
Governments must be held to climate promises and 5-year reviews. The International Commission of Jurists has also been clear on State and corporate obligations. We’re watching you!
5. Climate Finance
We need grants, not loans. Pay up, industrialised nations, and stop funding fossil fuels! Also, make genderresponsive funds available to feminist and grassrootsled groups. We work with so little funds and resources. MOVE THE MONEY! (We know it’s there.)
6. Technology Justice
Support local, just technology. Develop and transfer climate-just technology. This is redistributive justice, not more neoliberal capitalist moneymaking based on our misery and your greed. Don’t sell us fixes to problems that you cause!
7. Gender & Human Rights
Climate justice is not charity. It’s justice in the face of patriarchy, racism, colonialism, coloniality,
heteronormativity, and class oppression. “We are not drowning; we are fighting!” –350Pacific.
8-9. Economic & Political Systems
End greedy, neoliberal capitalism. Shift to people-led, embodied, intersectional, interlinked feminist systems with real accountability and a core of justice and beloved community.
10. 1.5 to Stay Alive
The Pacific must survive. Small islands must survive. A rise in global warming of 1.5°C is a red line, not a
guideline. Urgent and global work. If this is not ‘special circumstances,’ we don’t know what is. Do not look away.
11. Oceans & Cryosphere
Protect marine life, oceans, waterways, melting glaciers, and ice regions now. Water is Life!
12. Water & Sanitation
Protect water sources. Everyone needs clean, safe sanitation, on- and off-grid. Water is Life!
13. Agroecology & Food Sovereignty
Healthy soil, plants, and food mean healthy people. Restore ecosystems. Build agroecology.
14. Pollution
Stop chemical and plastic pollution. It’s killing us, other species, and the living planet. A Plastics Treaty is the immediate goal – covering the entire chain of production, consumption, recycling, and waste management. We support the High Ambition Coalition.
15. Feminist Futures
We need strategies, not just critiques. Break unjust systems. Build bold, fossil-free futures.
16. Planetary Defence
We act for life itself – ours, all species, and generations ahead. We especially defend tropical wetlands, oceans, coral reefs, mangrove and lagoon ecosystems, and rainforests. We defend this living Planet!
17.Liberation & Justice
Our goal is ecological justice on all territories. Indigenous/ First Nations prioritised. No compromises.
What Are We Doing with These Demands?
These demands are being translated for many audiences and into multiple languages, including sign language and braille. We keep it concise and practical. Add your further focus, tools, and direct action. From local Indigenous/ First Nations and local communities to regional & global multilateralism, we mobilise, organise, resist, propose strategies, and lead work for gender, social, economic, and climate justice. The 17 demands guide the increasing work, and for each demand, we create knowledge, praxis,
and resistance actions.
These demands are a commitment. We fight for justice, protect the living planet, and build bold, rooted, and revolutionary feminist futures. We have organised for decades. DIVA for Equality, Pacific Islands Feminists for Climate Justice, Pacific Conference of Churches, Pacific Feminists Defending the Living Planet, and more join us every month.
WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP ON OURSELVES, OTHER SPECIES,
AND THIS LIVING PLANET!