Tupua Tamasese Tupuola Tufuga Efi discussed climate change during a luncheon fundraiser for the University of Hawaii’s 2009 Stars of Oceania last April 9.
Rep. Rosemond B. Santos, R-Saipan, who attended the event said the Samoan head of state also addressed the participants of the Pasifika Energy Summit.
Tupua said the fundamental problem is arrogance and greed.
“If we want to seriously address the critical issues that face our world today we have to come up with something that is bold enough to allow us to say the unsayable. In other words, what is constructive in this search for answers is also what is most hard to say,” he said.
Arrogance and greed, the Samoan leader, said are human vices that speak to humanity’s weaker side.
Arrogance, he said, is the ability to rationalize what is wrong from what is right.
He concluded that the relationship among trees, animals, ocean and mother earth should be one of balance, with boundaries respected and protected.
However, he added, arrogance and greed have blurred the boundaries of what is right and just.
“As we search for solutions, we must be open to the wisdom of others. What has happened over the years as man has become more knowledgeable through science is that that very knowledge has given us a much greater capacity to abuse the elements and forget the need for harmony,” Tupua said.
What people need is a culture of humility and sharing, he said, and “to protect the environment one needs to be able to respect the environment.”
