From 9 to 20 November 2026, governments from around the world gather in Antalya, Türkiye, for COP31, the UN climate change conference. In October, the Pacific hosted the final major meeting before the summit, with Pre-COP31 in Fiji and a special leaders’ event in Tuvalu. Pacific nations produce around 0.03 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet they are among the most exposed to the effects of climate change.
British Council New Zealand and the Pacific is marking COP31 with events that put Pacific stories and creativity at the heart of the climate conversation. In Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, two free events at the New Zealand Maritime Museum explore climate change through art, film and kōrero. Further afield, our Trouble in Paradise: Climate Change in the Pacific exhibition has travelled to Brussels.
Pacific Voices: Trouble in Paradise
Thursday 12 November, 5pm to 8pm (panel starts 6.30pm)
New Zealand Maritime Museum, Auckland
Free | Book now
A panel conversation on climate change, told through art and a Pacific lens. Inspired by the British Council exhibition and publication Trouble in Paradise: Climate Change in the Pacific, the panel will discuss environmental change, resilience and the bonds between people, ocean and place. Selected photographs from the exhibition will feature on the night. Come early to see the museum’s exhibition Our Ocean of Islands, open from 5pm.
Panellists: Associate Professor Caroline Vercoe (Samoa, Aotearoa New Zealand), art historian at the University of Auckland specialising in contemporary Pacific art, Uga Vaialia (Sāmoa, Aotearoa New Zealand), photographer whose work features in Trouble in Paradise, Zech Soakai, Tongan and Samoan storyteller and theatre-maker, and curator of Our Culture, Our Climate - Voices from Across the Pacific at Auckland Writers Festival 2024, supported by British Council New Zealand and the Pacific.
Can I Live? Film screening and climate conversation
Friday 20 November, 5pm to 8.30pm (screening starts 6pm)
New Zealand Maritime Museum, Auckland
Free | Book now
Can I Live? is a filmed production by acclaimed UK theatre company Complicité, conceived, written and performed by actor and climate advocate Fehinti Balogun. Through spoken word and personal reflection, it brings Caribbean and Pacific perspectives on the climate crisis together.
After the screening and light refreshments, Fehinti (joining online) will be in conversation with Professor Paora Tapsell (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Raukawa), Director of the Institute of Kāika Climate Resilience at Lincoln University, who joins in person. Recommended for ages 12+. Our Ocean of Islands, the museum’s exhibition on Indigenous knowledge and relationships with the ocean, is open from 5pm for those who arrive early.
Trouble in Paradise in Europe
Trouble in Paradise: Climate Change in the Pacific shows the impact of the climate crisis through the eyes of Pacific photographers. The images were entries in the UK’s Pacific Climate Photography Competition, held in the lead-up to COP26. Since 2021, British Council New Zealand and the Pacific has toured the exhibition across Aotearoa, to CHOGM in Samoa and to Vancouver, Canada.
In October, the exhibition made its European debut. During Brussels Climate Week, the UK Mission to the European Union held a Nature and Biodiversity reception with the photographs as its backdrop. UK Special Representative for Nature Ruth Davis OBE spoke at the event. The selection remains on display for events in the run-up to COP31, and the companion book has been specially reprinted for the conference.