Climate Change

Representing Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, Foreign Minister Pato raised the issues at a meeting of Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders with the United States Assistant Secretary of State, Mr Danny Russell in New York on Friday.

Minister Pato further expressed his desire for United States’ backing at the COP21 Conference in Paris this year on climate issues that are of vital significance to lives and communities in the Pacific.

Accounting for over 85 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, calling it a “positive first step” towards achieving a universal climate change agreement this December.

The action plans, or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), will form the basis of the agreement expected to be reached at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP21, to be held in Paris.

The Office of Insular Affairs is accepting applications for 2016 technical assistance which will be processed on a first-come, first-serve basis until funds are exhausted.

Assistant Secretary Esther Kia'aina says the island communities continue to face extreme climate events, including typhoons and hurricanes, storm surges, high winds and king tides.

Ms Kia'aina says the areas are also feeling the effects of slow, progressive climate-induced stresses, such as sea level rise, ocean acidification, coral bleaching and saline intrusion into water systems.

Kiribati will next week host a summit that will also involve the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, the Maldives, Tokelau and others, brought together under the aegis of the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation.

The Kiribati Government says the 'High Level Meeting on Climate Induced Migration' is about the countries affected taking action.

The Kiribati Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Akka Rimon, says sea level rise is happening and becoming more severe, and the atoll states want to ensure climate induced migrants are catered for in a dignified way.

“You speak for the most vulnerable. That is why I am counting on you to raise your voices to build political momentum to resolve outstanding issues,” Ban told the meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum.

“The PIF is crucial to realizing our global vision for a sustainable future.”

Ban noted that this year Member States have agreed on key global policies – on disaster risk reduction, on financing for development, and most recently on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which collectively aim to ensure the long-term well-being of the planet and its people.

The roughly 50,000 people who call the Marshalls home are facing rising sea levels, increasingly violent storms, drought and flooding.

Last year, an especially high tide inundated several of the islands, including Majuro, the largest and most populous. Parts of the island were under water. Hundreds of people had to flee their houses. The president said later that his people “stand to lose everything.”

That was announced by President Francois Hollande at the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday, in a bid to leverage more action.

The host nation of this December’s critical Paris climate summit will also increase the amount available as grants, and not as loans, he said.

“We need developed countries to take on financial commitments… we have to make sure that emerging economies, developing countries can be sure they will be helped.”

Hollande noted that the developed world had yet to deliver on its promise to raise US$100 billion of climate finance in 2020.

The country's foreign affairs secretary, Akka Rimon, says the meeting is the outcome of recent talks between President Anote Tong and Monaco's Prince Albert II.

He says Prince Albert, the leaders and representatives of Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, the Maldives, and Tokelau, as well as representatives from 17 United Nations agencies are expected to attend.

Mr Rimon says the meeting will highlight the impacts of climate change and ways affected countries plan to deal with climate induced migration with dignity.

“The Land Beyond the Horizon” captures the stories of Pacific islanders whose lands and livelihoods are threatened by climate change, as well as those who have had to relocate to other countries, and discusses the impacts on their lives, cultures, languages and traditions. 

The film also features exclusive footage and interviews with prominent leaders such as the President Anote Tong of Kiribati, Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga of  Tuvalu and Mary Robinson, the United Nations Special Envoy on Climate Change – leaders in the frontline of climate change efforts throughout the world.

14 Pacific Island Countries have been locked in six year negotiations with Australia and New Zealand over PACER Plus (Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations). 

The Governor of Oro in Papua New Guinea, Gary Juffa, a strong critic of PACER Plus told PACNEWS in Suva that Pacific Island Parties have been taken for a ride by Australia and New Zealand, as revealed in the leaked negotiating text on ‘development and economic co-operation’ published on the PINA website.