Climate action in Vagahau Niue

Some of the best advice we get comes from home, from a grandparent at the kitchen table or an aunty in the garden. A new video series from the Centre for Pacific Languages (CPL) brings climate action into those conversations in Vagahau Niue. 

Lagomatai e lalolagi ha tautolu. Lagomatai e haau a tau tagata.
Protect our planet. Protect your people.

Drawing on knowledge from Niue, each video shares an action that families can use here in Tāmaki Makaurau, from taking the bus to getting your magafaoa (family) ready for an emergency. Each video comes back to the same idea: looking after your people and the world around you. 

Josie Bonnington-Mailisi from Centre for Pacific Languages says: “While these videos celebrate Vagahau Niue and our Pacific identity, these videos are for everyone.”

"We all have a responsibility to care for the environment and the land we live on, and every positive action, no matter how small, can make a difference."

Most climate information in Aotearoa is in English, and it doesn't always reflect the values, examples or ways of talking that families recognise. The Centre for Pacific Languages set out to change that:

"We wanted to create something that would genuinely resonate with our communities, spark conversations and inspire meaningful action."

"Pacific humour has always been a powerful way of connecting, storytelling and sharing knowledge, and we wanted to embrace that while recognising the very real and serious impacts climate change is having on the world around us.”

By sharing everyday climate actions in Vagahau Niue, through Niue voices and with family at the centre, the videos make climate action feel familiar and easy to talk about at home. 

"Through the power of language, culture and humour, we hope to encourage families and communities from all walks of life to reflect on their everyday choices, take action and recognise that we all have a part to play in protecting our planet for future generations."

Aotearoa is home to the largest Niue community in the world (outside of Niue), with more than 25,000 tagata Niue, and most live here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Using Vagahau Niue to talk about everyday things like the bus, the power bill and the garden helps keep it a living language while helping people take climate action. 

These videos were funded through Auckland Council's Auckland Climate Grant, which supports community-led climate action across Tāmaki Makaurau.