'The time for excuses is over,' island leaders tell UN, urging action on climate change

Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama noted his nation’s recent elections and encouraging advances in economic growth, primary and secondary schooling, infrastructure, roads, water and healthcare.

He then turned his attention to the subject of climate change, noting that Pacific small island developing States (SIDS) have “a unique perspective of the world to share with the international human rights community.”

“Like our neighbours in the South Pacific and other SIDS, we see the bright future we have charted for ourselves dimmed by the prospect of climate change and sea-level rise,” he said.

Fiji has been outspoken in insisting that all nations do their duty, he said, with regard to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“It is simply not acceptable for advanced economies to build a high standard of living based on the degradation of the Earth and the seas,” he said. “The time for excuses is over.”

Bainimarama said he hoped for an acceptable outcome at the Paris climate change conference later this year, and called for an agreement of a temperature rise of not more than 1.5 degrees centigrade above pre-industrial levels, also noting that it should be legally binding for all parties.

“We also call for the climate change adaptation measures to be 100 percent grant financed,” he added.

He said that, because of climate change, Fiji currently has plans to move 45 of its villages to higher ground, and also to settle people from other low-lying Pacific Island States.

The President also welcomed the Sustainable Development Goal on the conservation and sustainable management of the oceans.

“Our destiny is shaped by the ocean in which we are set,” he said.

Meanwhile, the President of Nauru, Baron Divavesi Waqa, highlighted the importance of the 2030 Agenda, which “places the welfare of human beings at its core and lays out a comprehensive set of goals and targets to help empower every individual to realize their full potential.”

He also spoke about the importance of the ocean as the source of almost all development possibilities for Nauru, and highlighted concerns over illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the nation’s waters, noting “if we are to be true to Agenda 2030 and the commitments made to SlDS, we must do much more to eliminate IUU fishing and ensure that the income from fishing goes to the rightful resource owners.”

Turning to the subject of climate change, Waqa called it “the largest test of our international and domestic institutions.”

“Clearly, a strong, legally binding agreement in Paris is absolutely critical, with ambitious mitigation contributions from all countries,” he said.

He added, “The agreement should be guided by a temperature goal of 1.5 degree Celsius and consistent with our vision for a safe and secure world. It must also ensure climate finance is available for adaptation, particularly for the most vulnerable countries.”

He added that he believed many major economic powers wanted to reach an agreement in the upcoming Paris climate change conference.

“However,” he continued, “I’m starting to doubt whether they are willing and able to make the fundamental changes in their political and economic systems required to achieve our ambitious goals.”

Waqa warned that intense lobbying to accept an unsatisfactory outcome had already begun, which could leave a “take-it-or-leave it deal” for climate change.

Meanwhile, the President of the Marshall Islands, Christopher Loeak, addressed the General Assembly on the pressing issues of climate change and nuclear disarmament.

“The UN’s 2030 development agenda – and its Sustainable Development Goals – offers small island States a powerful tool to craft and adjust our own domestic strategies,” he said.

“In adopting the SDGs, the Marshall Islands cannot afford a ‘set it and forget it’ mentality which has too often marked past international efforts, he said.

He said he also welcomed the establishment of a comprehensive assistance program with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which will build his country’s capacity to monitor and evaluate serious issues of nuclear contamination, as well as addressing health strategies and other SDG benchmarks.

He also referred to the upcoming climate change conference in Paris.

“I am proud that climate change is now recognized by all world leaders as a reality which deserves, and is gaining, a firm and collective response. Everyone among us must act - and many, including my own nation, have already committed to emissions cuts well into tile future of 2025, of 2030 and beyond,” he said.

“A world without a true commitment, and meaningful pathway, towards decarbonization is, for us in the island nations, ultimately, no world at all,” he said.

“As a low-lying island nation, with no higher ground, climate change poses a severe threat to our very security,” he continued. “Some have said there is no more hope, and no more time. I forcefully disagree. The future of my nation – the future of our very land – is perhaps more in the hands of my fellow world leaders than it is my own.”

UN Photo/Cia Pak