![]() Our World Leaders must affirm climate change, as the single greatest threat facing all humanity. ![]() That is why COP 26 in just over three weeks’ time, is so critical. It shouldn’t be just our Pacific voices, but that of the world combined, because while the Pacific is on the frontline, the whole world faces the ever-encroaching threat of climate change. We all have a moral obligation, to do what is right. Ladies and gentlemen, whether we are from countries that are developed, emerging, or developing, we are all vulnerable to and impacted by Climate Change. Yet we know that every dollar spent upfront on resilience and preparedness, saves approximately seven dollars in recovery costs. Currently over 80% of climate finance goes to mitigation. This declaration is a strong and decisive step, towards securing our respective homes now, and into perpetuity.įorum Leaders have also endorsed the establishment of the Pacific Resilience Facility. It is a considered solution we offer, to address climate change related sea-level rise, and its impact on our maritime zones. The 2019 Kainaki Lua Declaration by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders, is a declaration that is drawn directly from the COP 2015 Paris Agreement, and continues as our clarion call, for urgent climate change action now.įurthermore, Forum Leaders in early August issued the groundbreaking Declaration on Preserving Maritime Zones, in the face of Climate Change-related Sea-level rise. In this, the Blue Pacific is doing what we can to address this crisis. Severe droughts are ravaging many parts of the globe, in many cases unseen and unheard of before.Īs a global community, we must take heed of what the science and Nature is saying – failure to do so, will be to our collective peril. The same can also be said in the case of Hurricane Laura and Ida, examples closer to home for you, Honourable Gore, where climate change is increasing the frequency, and intensity, of such natural hazards. The flooding that occurred in various parts of Europe in July of this year, resulting in fatalities and considerable damage to infrastructure, has been attributed to human-induced climate change. And Mother Nature has been giving us reminders, not only in the Blue Pacific, but r.ight across the world. The latest IPCC report paints a bleak future for all of us. Our existing vulnerabilities to climate change are growing daily, and we are unable to keep up with the costs of its impacts. With each climate- induced disaster we suffer loss of life, loss of livelihoods, loss of homes, and loss of decades of development gains. ![]() In the last 5 years, five Category 5 tropical cyclones have wreaked havoc in our region, with the economic costs last year alone, estimated at US 1.5 billion dollars. Regular and prolonged droughts, unexpected floods, warming oceans and rising seas, low-lying islands submerged, coastlines eroded by high seas, and crops damaged by saltwater intrusion. Here in the Blue Pacific, climate change is our daily reality. Whether you live in a large country or an island, climate change is threatening our collective survival. For our planet and our Blue Pacific, the stakes could not be higher. Ladies and gentlemen, in just 25 days, world leaders will gather in Glasgow for the 26th meeting of the Global UN Conference to combat climate change. It is certainly an honour and a pleasure to welcome the Honourable Al Gore, a true climate champion and leader, and to join with him and the Climate Reality Project, for this important forum today, to raise Pacific voices for ambitious climate action. Remarks from the Secretary General Henry PunaĪt The Climate Reality Project, Australiaīula vinaka, Kia Orana and warm Pacific greetings from the Blue Pacific.
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