Benjamin Afuga’s Journey as a Social Media Influencer

A storytelling feature on how young Pacific voices, including Solomon Islanders, are shaping climate conversations before COP31.

Solomon Islands youth are joining Pacific climate conversations ahead of COP31, bringing frontline stories of rising seas, coastal erosion, food insecurity and community resilience into regional and global climate action.

On a low-lying shoreline in Solomon Islands, climate change is not an abstract policy phrase. It is the sea moving closer to homes. It is saltwater creeping into gardens. It is a classroom disrupted by heavy rain, a family talking about relocation, and young people asking why decisions about their future are still too often made without them.

That question sat at the heart of the Pacific Youth Talanoa Series, a regional dialogue process that brought together young people, climate advocates, faith leaders, government representatives, civil society organisations and development partners to strengthen youth engagement in climate policy and advocacy ahead of COP31.

Why This Matters for Solomon Islands

For Solomon Islands, the climate crisis is already woven into everyday life. Coastal communities are facing erosion and saltwater intrusion, atoll communities are under pressure from rising seas, and families in both rural and urban areas are navigating heavier rainfall, flooding, heat and changing food systems.

In places such as Ontong Java, Roviana Lagoon and the Reef Islands, the story of climate change is told through land, water, gardens, reefs and memory. It is also told through young people who see these changes at home and want a meaningful role in shaping national, regional and global responses.

The Talanoa Series helped create that space. More than a program of meetings, it became a bridge between village realities and climate policy rooms, between lived experience and advocacy, and between young people across Oceania who share different islands but a common concern for the future.

A Talanoa Across the Blue Pacific

The series gathered youth voices from across Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia, with many joining in person and others connecting online from dispersed island communities. For Solomon Islands youth, this regional space reflected a familiar reality: even when islands are separated by ocean, stories of resilience, loss and hope often sound deeply connected.

Participants came from youth networks, environmental organisations, faith communities, academia, government agencies, community groups and climate movements. The hybrid format widened participation and made the conversations more accessible for young people living far from regional meeting centres.

The discussions also placed importance on gender equality, disability inclusion and intergenerational dialogue, recognising that climate action must include the voices of those most affected and those often left out of decision-making spaces.

From Listening to Leadership

One of the strengths of the Talanoa Series was that young people were not asked to simply sit and listen. They were invited to speak, question, reflect and contribute directly to conversations with regional leaders, climate experts, faith leaders and community advocates.

For a Solomon Islands audience, this matters because youth participation cannot stop at awareness. It must move toward partnership — where young people from Honiara, Malaita, Makira, Western Province, Temotu and beyond are recognised as contributors to climate solutions, not only as people affected by climate impacts.

Through these exchanges, young participants gained a stronger understanding of climate policy processes, regional priorities and advocacy pathways. They also shared what climate change looks like at community level: washed-out shorelines, damaged food gardens, pressure on clean water, uncertainty for livelihoods and the emotional weight of watching home landscapes change.

The message was clear: young Pacific people are not waiting for permission to lead. They are already organising, learning, storytelling and advocating in ways that connect local knowledge with regional ambition.

What Young People Put on the Table

Across the dialogues, several priorities rose again and again — priorities that speak directly to Solomon Islands realities.

Young people spoke about climate change as a challenge to food security, livelihoods, culture, identity, education, health and wellbeing. They called attention to the way rising seas and extreme weather affect not just infrastructure, but also people’s connection to land, language, kastom and community.

They raised concerns about sea-level rise, stronger storms, flooding, displacement, loss and damage, limited access to climate finance, and the need for adaptation that reaches communities directly — including children, youth, women and persons with disabilities.

They also emphasised the value of Indigenous and traditional knowledge: reef stewardship, community planting, water conservation, disaster preparedness, local leadership and the collective responsibility that has helped Pacific communities survive and adapt for generations.

A recurring message was that Pacific youth do not want to be framed only as vulnerable. They want the world to see their leadership, their knowledge and their solutions — from community action in Solomon Islands to regional advocacy across Oceania.

A Solomon Islands Story Within a Regional Movement

For young people in Solomon Islands, the Talanoa Series connects to a wider national conversation already happening in schools, churches, coastal villages, youth networks and community spaces.

The call is not only to be consulted, but to be included meaningfully — in planning, budgeting, policy design, implementation and monitoring. Young people want seats at the table, but they also want the table to move closer to communities.

That is why storytelling matters. When a young person speaks about a garden damaged by saltwater, a shoreline disappearing, or a family deciding where to live next, they are not only sharing a personal story. They are helping decision-makers understand what climate policy means in real life.

Across Oceania, those stories are different in detail but connected by the same truth: climate action must be ambitious, inclusive and accountable, and young people must help shape it.

From Talanoa to COP31

The Talanoa Series culminated in the Regional Conference of Youth Oceania and contributed to the development of a Pacific Youth Climate Statement. This statement brings together shared priorities and recommendations from young people across the region and provides a platform for continued engagement with decision-makers.

For Solomon Islands, this regional platform is an opportunity to lift local realities into global spaces — from the experiences of coastal communities and urban settlements to the voices of children and youth calling for stronger resilience, climate justice and direct support for community-led solutions.

Coverage included interviews, feature stories, video content and social media highlighting youth perspectives and the outcomes of the dialogues.

As COP31 approaches, the challenge is to carry these stories forward in a way that influences policy, funding and action — not as side conversations, but as central evidence of what is at stake for island communities.

A Growing Climate Movement

The conclusion of the Talanoa Series is not the end of the story. It is a turning point.

From dialogue rooms to community halls, from youth networks to climate negotiations, Pacific youth are building momentum. In Solomon Islands, that momentum is rooted in lived experience — in land, sea, faith, family, kastom and the determination to protect what future generations will inherit.

The Pacific Youth Climate Statement is intended to inform regional dialogues, pre-COP consultations and COP31, but its strength will depend on how well it remains connected to the people and places behind the words.

For young Solomon Islanders, the message is simple and powerful: climate action must listen to those living the crisis, value local knowledge and create real pathways for youth leadership.

Carrying the Story Forward

The Pacific Youth Talanoa Series showed what can happen when young people are given space to connect, collaborate and contribute. It also showed that the climate movement is strongest when it begins with stories — stories from communities, stories from shorelines, stories from young people who know what is being lost and what can still be protected.

From Honiara to remote atolls and coastal villages, young people are already part of Solomon Islands’ climate response. Their voices belong not at the margins, but at the centre of climate planning and action.

As the journey toward COP31 continues, the task now is to keep the talanoa alive — in communities, in policy spaces and on the global stage — so that Solomon Islands youth help shape the climate future they will inherit.

The Pacific Youth Talanoa Series is co-designed and co-led by the Pacific Youth Council and the United Nations, in partnership with Pasifika Communities University and Pacific regional organisations, with technical expertise and coordination support from the United Nations Interagency Working Group on Adolescents and Youth.

Source: UNDP Pacific - https://shorturl.at/FbMUH