Facing constant threats from climate change and wary of the possible spread of COVID-19 to their shores, Pacific Island leaders on Friday touted their own environmental action plans and called for more aggressive climate action from other nations, including rapid shifts toward clean energy.
“All countries and peoples are in a global war against climate change. We have witnessed deadly fires in the US, typhoons in the Caribbean and in the Pacific, and floods in Asia. It is a war that we can win, but we must be much more aggressive in combatting it,’ David Panuelo, President of the Federated States of Micronesia, the first of several Pacific Island leaders to speak today, said in a pre-recorded address.
He said “climate change is our single greatest long-term security threat. Rising waters threaten to make life in remote atolls impossible. Higher temperatures threaten crops, livestock, and fish. The world must transition to sustainable and renewable energy.” Indeed, coal and natural gas are unsustainable solutions for the environment and are harmful to both economic growth and equality of opportunity.
Safety of ‘Blue Pacific’ tied to climate action.
And with that in mind, Prime Minister Natano said the United Nations and its Member States must work collaboratively to build back better countries and economies that are inclusive and leave no one behind; protect the health and wellbeing of all; preserve natural and marine environments; are low emissions and climate smart; and build resilience to future crises.
He stressed that the shared prosperity and security of “our Blue Pacific” can only safely exist if the international community pursues efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius. The transformation and investment response to the COVID-19 pandemic must also serve to build our resilience to the impacts of climate change.
“If we failed this, then we are putting additional debt into our already exhausted capacities, which can further exacerbate climate crises going forward,” he said, calling for stronger political will form all countries towards full implementation of the Paris Agreement, the SAMOA Pathway for small island developing States, and the Istanbul Plan of Action for landlocked developing States.
In his virtual address, Taneti Maamau, President and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration of Kiribati, said that of ‘great importance to Kiribati and our Blue Pacific is without question, the alarming dilemma of our present time, climate change.
To this end, his Government continues to implement critical projects to build resilience, including the Peacebuilding Fund’s climate security project, which he launched in Kiribati earlier this month.
Joint combat against COVID-19 and climate crisis.
“In solidarity with our Pacific Islands Forum family, we also remain committed to securing our maritime boundaries, amid the impacts of climate change. This is a matter of sovereignty,” he added.
“While COVID-19 is our immediate crisis, we must continue to work on the other challenges that confront us all, in particular climate change, the single greatest threat to the livelihood, security and wellbeing of the Pacific and its peoples,” he said, recalling the Kainaki II Declaration in 2019 adopted by leaders at the end of the 50th Pacific Islands Forum, and the 2018 Boe Declaration, on security in the Pacific.
Next up, James Marape, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, said that to protect his country and people from the spread of the coronavirus, his Government had acted early and fast, putting in place the necessary preventive measures in policy and law, including passing a National Pandemic Act, to deal with COVID-19 and similar outbreaks in the future.
“This has cushioned us against the loss of lives, with just six so far,” he said, adding that Papua New Guinea was also working successfully at the regional level with the Pacific Islands Forum to curb the spread of teh disease. Nevertheless, the net effect of the pandemic had resulted in job losses, export and other revenue losses, and stalled development activities.
Source: https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1073852