“God and Tonga Are My Inheritance!”: climate change impact on perceived spirituality, adaptation and lessons learnt from Kanokupolu, ‘Ahau, Tukutonga, Popua and Manuka in Tongatapu, Tonga
Hausia Havea, P, Hemstock, S.L., Jacot Des Combes, H. and Luetz, J. (2017) “God and Tonga Are My Inheritance!”: climate change impact on perceived spirituality, adaptation and lessons learnt from Kanokupolu, ‘Ahau, Tukutonga, Popua and Manuka in Tongatapu, Tonga. In: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies for Coastal Communities. Climate Change Management - Springer Nature Series . Springer, Cham, International, pp. 167-186. ISBN 978-3-319-70702-0
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Abstract
Climate change is a significant threat to health and well-being, in particular to people’s spiritual well-being, in coastal areas and communities. This paper describes the findings of a 2013 study on impacts of climate change on people’s spiritual well-being in 5 coastal communities in Tongatapu, Tonga: Kanokupolu, ‘Ahau, Tukutonga, Popua and Manuka, using a concurrent convergence parallel triangulation design. Information was collected from a group of 460 participants aged 15–75 via self-administered questionnaire, in-depth interview (IDI), focus group discussions (FGD) and key information interviews (KII). There was a statistically significant difference between people whose spirituality was affected and those unaffected (p < 0.005). People who were worried and whose physical well-being were affected, emerged as the most strongly affected (χ2(4) = 15.780, p < 0.005). The same factor was explored qualitatively using thematic analytical strategy, and concluded that climate change had affected people’s spiritual well-being, negatively. Lessons learnt from this paper will be useful for people invested in policy practice, and pastorate serving the cause of holistic Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) in Tonga: preaching, fasting and praying to God to reverse climate change and its impacts, help State and Church to adapt more effectively and comprehensively.
| Item Type: | Book Section |
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| Additional Information: | © Springer International Publishing AG, 2018. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70703-7_9 |
| Divisions: | School of Humanities |
| Depositing User: | Dr Sarah Hemstock |
| Date Deposited: | 15 Mar 2018 09:17 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Jul 2019 14:20 |
| URI: | https://bgro.repository.guildhe.ac.uk/id/eprint/263 |
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