Introduction: Local practice and global interactions in the Pacific–Making the global local

We live in a time of monumental upheaval and transition. Debates over the best ways to enhance human progress and development have been overtaken by overwhelming evidence that the unprecedented growth of the modern world economy poses an existential threat to humanity because of associated global environmental degradation. The overuse of carbon-producing energy sources heavily pollutes the atmosphere, raising global temperatures beyond the tolerance of many plant and animal species. The term ‘Anthropocene’ has been coined for this new era because human activity is, for the first time, changing Earth’s ecosystems and climate on a global scale. The overwhelming scientific