From Pandora to the Pacific: Avatar: The Way of Water Screening
Bula vinaka, Kia Orana and warm Pacific greetings.
I’m delighted to join you through this medium, at this first screening of the award winning film Avatar with its latest sequel, The Way of Water.
As the Pacific Ocean Commissioner, I’m tasked by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders to advocate for and champion the most important issues and priorities for the Blue Pacific Ocean that we all share, and call home.
Our Blue Pacific Ocean is the largest body of water on earth, covering more than 155 million square kilometers (60 million square miles) and averaging a depth of 4,000 meters (13,000 feet). All the continents of the world would fit into our Pacific Ocean, and we would still have room to spare. From the deepest ocean in the world, the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, to the largest living ecosystem in the world, the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, we know our Pacific ocean is pretty special, just as we have always known, our moana, our wansolwara, is our source of life. But it’s much more than that. More than half of the oxygen you breathe comes from the ocean. More than 90 percent of all life on this planet comes from the Ocean—and the scientists are still discovering new potential and life – it is amazing. And even as polluted and stressed as she is, the Ocean continues to be the best climate regulator helping us through this man made crisis, as it works to cool this overheating planet down.
So we know with absolute certainty that our people, our livelihoods and our economies depend on the marine environment. And we are just as certain that our ocean needs help. This ocean haven has served and nurtured us all. And she now needs us. Ocean acidification, temperature rise, marine pollution are some of the stressors she faces.
Friends, as you enjoy today’s screening which comes with themes focused on protecting the Ocean species and habitats from extra-ordinary threats, please spare a thought for our ocean, the ocean you see. The ocean you know and enjoy.
As Pacific Ocean Commissioner, and through our office, I’m proud of the efforts we have undertaken this year alongside the Pacific Ocean Alliance, which has, amongst other things provided us all the opportunity to be the first to watch this film on big screen, not only here in Fiji and the Blue Pacific region, but across the world.
But we need your help. The ocean needs your help. And so I encourage you go to our website www.opocbluepacific.org or scan the QR code at the end of this message to see how you can learn more about the ocean and to help.
In closing, I applaud the excellent partnership we have with Damodar Cinemas, and with SPREP, USP and SPC, a partnership that has allowed us to bring this event together.
Lastly Friends, I invite you to join me this festive season by doing at least one or two small things to protect the ocean’s health. Together we can all keep our ocean protected, resilient and amazing.
Kia Manuia, Marau ni Kirisimasi , have a Happy New Year.
