Pacific: summit for island countries for drastic cuts in emissions

(ANSA) – SYDNEY, 15 JUL – The vulnerable Pacific island nations, gathered from 11 to 14 July at the key Pacific Islands Forum summit in Suva in the Solomon Islands together with Australia and New Zealand, called for “global action in the final document urgent, immediate, towards climate change, to prevent “extreme scenarios” that would see their countries – some just above sea level – being submerged or rendered uninhabitable by increasingly violent storms.

At the summit, the first held in person since 2019 due to the pandemic, were present in addition to the host Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama, the heads of government of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga, Federated States of Micronesia, Niue and Palau, as well as the prime ministers of Australia, Anthony Albanese, and of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern. “Leaders declare that the Pacific is facing a climate emergency,” the statement said, which “urges world leaders, especially the countries that produce the most emissions, to recognize climate change as the single threat to the planet” and to achieve emissions. net zero by 2050.

A joint ‘2050 strategy’ document was also agreed to move forward with regionalism in the Pacific for the next three decades, with accelerated and drastic action to reduce emissions and strengthen resilience. The more ambitious emissions reduction target adopted by the new Labor government of Canberra, of 43% by 2030, has been welcomed, which according to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese strengthens the new regional strategic plan aimed at preserving unity in the Pacific, in view of the growing strategic competition in the region between the US and China.

The summit was in fact clouded by internal divisions linked to the proximity of member countries to the West or to China, in a region crossed by important shipping routes, which make it a melting pot of rivalry between the US and its allies, and a China increasingly intent on extending its domain. (HANDLE).

Source: Ansa

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