Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
28-08-2024
UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said that big polluters have a clear responsibility to cut emissions or risk a worldwide catastrophe.
“The Pacific is today the most vulnerable area of the world,” he told media at the Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga. “There is an enormous injustice in relation to the Pacific and it’s the reason I am here.”
“The small islands don’t contribute to climate change but everything that happens because of climate change is multiplied here.”
But eventually the “surging seas are coming for us all,” he warned in a speech at the forum, as the UN releases two separate reports on rising sea levels and how they threaten Pacific island nations.
The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in the South West Pacific report says this region faces a triple whammy of an accelerating rise in the sea level, a warming of the ocean and acidification, a rise in the sea’s acidity because it’s absorbing more and more carbon dioxide.
“The reason is clear: greenhouse gases overwhelmingly generated by burning fossil fuels are cooking our planet,” Guterres said in a speech at the forum.
“The sea is taking the heat literally.”
This year’s theme transformative resilience was tested on the opening day when the new auditorium was deluged by heavy rains and buildings evacuated because of an earthquake. “It’s such a stark reminder of how volatile things are within our region, and how important it is that we need to prepare for everything,” Joseph Sikulu, Pacific director at 350, a climate change advocacy group, told media.
Not far from the venue was a street parade, with dancers representing the region, including Torres Strait islanders, Tongans and Samoans. At the start of the parade, a big banner reads: “We are not drowning, we are fighting”. Another says: “Sea levels are rising, so are we”.
It echoes a challenge that threatens to wipe out their world, the UN Climate Action Team released a report called “Surging Seas in a Warming World” showing that global average sea levels are rising at rates unprecedented in the past 3,000 years.
According to the report, the levels have risen an average of 9.4cm (3.7in) in the past 30 years but in the tropical Pacific, that figure was as high as 15cm.
“It’s important for leaders, especially like Australia and Aotearoa, to come and witness these things for themselves but also witness the resilience of our people,” Sikulu said.
“A core part of Tongan culture is our ability to be able to continue to be joyful throughout our adversity, and that’s how we practise our resilience and to see and witness that, I think is going to be important.”
This is the second time Secretary-General Guterres has participated in the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. The annual meeting brings together leaders from 18 Pacific Islands, including Australia and New Zealand.
As leaders convened for the official opening ceremony, heavy rain caused extensive flooding. Shortly afterwards, a magnitude 6.9 earthquake hit the Tonga region, highlighting just how vulnerable it is.
In 2019, Guterres travelled to Tuvalu where he sounded the alarm about rising sea levels. Five years on, he says he has seen real changes.
“We see everywhere an enormous commitment to resist, a commitment to reduce the negative impact of climate change,” he told media. “The problem is, the Pacific Islands also suffer another big injustice; the international financial instruments that exist to support countries in distress were not designed for countries like this.” (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
