Pacific island leaders raise climate threats at the UN — Anadolu Agency
Leaders of Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea stated during the UN General Assembly in New York, United States, that climate change, natural disasters and external economic shocks pose threats to Pacific island states. Anadolu Agency reports.
Rising sea levels for Tuvalu
Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo said that rising sea levels are not a future prospect for his country but an existing reality. According to him, climate change remains the greatest existential threat to Tuvalu’s survival, security and sustainable development.
Teo said that 15.3 hectares of elevated land have already been reclaimed in Funafuti, the country’s capital, as part of a coastal adaptation project. Another 10 hectares are in the process of being reclaimed. He called for climate financing in the form of grants at the scale needed to address the inevitable impacts of climate change, as well as loss and damage from further warming. The Tuvalu prime minister also called for accelerating progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the goal of conserving life below water.
Vulnerability of small island states
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele stressed that a single natural disaster can wipe out years of development in his archipelagic country. In his view, the UN Multidimensional Vulnerability Index reflects the particular conditions of small island states more accurately than assessments based solely on income levels.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Manele also said that armed conflicts, energy crises and disruptions to global trade affect small island economies. Rising fuel prices, he said, increase the costs of maritime transport, electricity, food and basic services. He noted that global military spending exceeded $2.9 trillion last year and significantly outstripped official development assistance and climate financing for developing countries.
Call from Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape called on world leaders to place human well-being, peace and environmental protection above wars and narrow geopolitical interests. He warned of disappearing forests, polluted oceans and an increasingly unstable climate.
Separately, leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum held a meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The sides discussed the implementation of the Blue Pacific Peace Declaration, as well as reform processes within the Forum and the UN.
