Nile Bunger speaks as moderator Jennifer Chau listens during the session titled “Justice for Whom: Uplifting Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Voices and Perspectives” on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. The AAPI Victory Alliance hosted its first ever Climate Justice Conference in Koreatown on Oct. 18-20, bringing together community leaders, climate experts and allies to address climate justice and equity, with an emphasis on Native Hawaiian and Paciifc Islanders.
Part of the audience listens as Nile Bunger speaks during the session titled “Justice for Whom: Uplifting Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Voices and Perspectives” on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. The AAPI Victory Alliance hosted its first ever Climate Justice Conference in Koreatown on Oct. 18-20, bringing together community leaders, climate experts and allies to address climate justice and equity, with an emphasis on Native Hawaiian and Paciifc Islanders.
Nile Bunger speaks as moderator Jennifer Chau listens during the session titled “Justice for Whom: Uplifting Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Voices and Perspectives” on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. The AAPI Victory Alliance hosted its first ever Climate Justice Conference in Koreatown on Oct. 18-20, bringing together community leaders, climate experts and allies to address climate justice and equity, with an emphasis on Native Hawaiian and Paciifc Islanders.
In a statement, AAPI Victory Alliance Executive Director Varun Nikore said that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders “have long been sounding the alarm about climate change — particularly because they will be disproportionately affected. Their livelihoods will be the first ones to be fully disrupted.”
The climate crisis “is something that is a ‘now’ issue, impacting us currently. Climate change doesn’t wait for anybody,” she said later. “You can’t talk about truly solving and fighting climate crises — in the Pacific Islands, Africa, or parts of Asia; where detrimental climate concerns are happening — without mentioning racial injustice and how these communities are directly impacted.”