22 June 2009 - Kiwi actress Keisha Castle-Hughes leaves for the Cook Islands today, to sail with Greenpeace and document climate impacts in the Pacific. Castle-Hughes is one of a range of high profile climate ambassadors working with Greenpeace New Zealand on its Sign on campaign (www.signon.org.nz). The campaign calls for the New Zealand government to adopt a 40 per cent by 2020 emissions reduction target.

"I get really upset over situations that are morally unjust. Pacific Islanders have hardly contributed to climate change, and yet are bearing the brunt of the problem," said Castle-Hughes. "I've always been interested in the region. I grew up with a lot of Pacific Islanders. I attended at one point a church in the Tongan language and lots of students at my high school were from the Pacific."

She will be documenting her experiences at www.signon.org.nz/news.

Castle-Hughes will meet the Greenpeace ship, Esperanza, in Rarotonga, where she'll spend two days in port. She will help host public open boats, meet with local NGOs and discuss climate change with the Cook Islands Prime Minister. She will then sail to the island of Aitutaki, where she'll help document the stories of the locals and how climate change is impacting their lives for Greenpeace's Climate Voices project. (1)

In particular, Castle-Hughes will also be asking them what kind of climate action they'd like to see from governments like New Zealand. The Alliance of Small Island States, of which the Cook Islands are part, is asking for developed countries as a group to reduce their emissions by more than 40 per cent by 2020.

Aitutaki is one of many small islands in the Pacific already bearing the brunt of climate change. Impacts include rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, changing weather patterns, and threats to food security due to ocean acidification and salination of soil.

Warmer temperatures are also bleaching Aitutaki's coral reefs, which are a prime tourist attraction. Castle-Hughes will meet with tourism officials in Aitutaki to discuss what needs to be done to ensure climate impacts don't destroy this crucial industry.

The Esperanza will then visit Samoa and Vanuatu before proceeding to Cairns for the Pacific Island Forum in the first week of August.