20 June 2012, Rio de Janeiro - Pacific leaders have highlighted their key areas of concerns at a Rio+20 side event.
Kiribati President Anote Tong, Vanuatu Prime Minister Sato Kilman, the President of the Federated States of Micronesia Emanuel Mori and the Ulu o Tokelau, Kerisiano Kalolo and Samoa's Minister of Natural Resources and Environment spoke on the theme “Pacific islands applying a green economy in a blue world.”
Durban, South Africa, 5 December - It’s within small, hot rooms sometimes with fewer chairs than there are people, that the fate of the Pacific islands is being negotiated this week.
The UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa enters week two with negotiations moving slowly and the challenges being difficult. The calls for urgency from the Alliance of Small Island States are either not being heard, or are ignored.
Protesters call upon negotiators for a world with a future
“We want to see something that will make sure that our islands, our people survive that the end goal is to keep global warming well below 1.5 degrees Celsius,” said Andrew Yatilman, Director of the Office of Environment and Emergency Management of the Federated States of Micronesia.
“What happens here in Durban is quite significant, if something actually happens here that would help prevent the negative climate change impacts to our vulnerable communities, it would save our people.”
The different negotiation themes are complex and web like with many different issues on the table, there is no one main meeting with one main battle.
For example some of the threads negotiated by AOSIS here is the call to operationalise the Green climate fund; ensure there is a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and; have a clear agreement that there will be a new legally binding protocol to complement the Kyoto Protocol with binding mitigation commitments for non-Kyoto parties and mitigation actions for developing countries as well.
While the Pacific region may contribute to 0.03% of the World’s total greenhouse gases which lead to climate change, we are amongst the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Andrew Yatilman with collegues at morning AOSIS plenary
"Coastal erosion is a big deal for us in FSM,” said Yatilman.
The Federated States of Micronesia is made up of 607 islands which culminate in 4 states; Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk, Yap that are home to a population of 110 thousand people.
“You can see some of our islands have infrastructure such as water tanks and some concrete structures that now sit in water, already useless. We have lost up to 10 meters to our shores in some areas with sea level rise. We are having more droughts that impact upon our farmers brining a loss of livelihood for them and we also sit in a typhoon belt which poses a destructive threat to us.”
Total annual emissions must be reduced to no more than 44 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide by 2020, and continue on a steep decline to keep warming well below 1.5 degrees. This is the temperature level that science has shown will help us avoid other devastating impacts.
Last year total annual emissions pushed 48 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, and even if countries meet the reduction targets they made last year at the 16th Conference of the Parties in Cancun, the world does not met the safe level of emissions, setting the stage for a temperature increase of 3 degrees or more.
Many Pacific communities are experiencing the impacts of climate change now, unless we can negotiate to achieve the AOSIS ‘asks’ here in Durban, South Africa, life will only get worse for Small Islands Developing States.
“We want urgent action, that is been what we have been after all this time but knowing that this is a multi-lateral process where you have over 190 parties at the table discussing coming to an agreement it’s not an easy process.”
10 March 2011 - Over 100 people will gather next week in Alofi, Niue to discuss an issue that is at the forefront of the region - climate change.
The Pacific Climate Change Roundtable (PCCR), held every two years, is bringing together participants from all the countries and territories in the region and the different organisations that have an interest in climate change and its impacts, seeking to help pave a way forward on how we address this.
Next week in Niue, it will also be an opportunity to hear of achievements made based upon the outcomes of the last PCCR which was hosted in the Marshall Islands in 2009.
“Climate change has always been a high priority for us, we are looking forward to people coming to Niue for the meeting and we hope the outcomes will be successful for everyone.” said Niue’s Premiere, Mr. Toke Talagi.
“In Niue we understand the importance of ensuring we can build our resilience through climate change mitigation and adaption, but we are also working to ensure that we can build our economic resilience and sustain our own developments over the long term.”
The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has worked with partners over the past months to ensure the meeting has a regional view and input.
It is hoped the PCCR will bring about better dialogue and contact between professionals, technical officers and people who work on climate change. It is planned that these discussions will have a specific focus on areas such as the SPREP study on climate change finance.
“For SPREP it’s a very important meeting, we take the view that is a meeting for the region as we’ve worked with other regional agencies and key donors to collaborate on the agenda and we’ll continue to collaborate as we move forward,” said Mr. David Sheppard, Director of SPREP.
Mr. Andrew Yatilman, Director of the Office of Environment and Emergency Management in the Federated States of Micronesia is looking forward to the PCCR helping to open doors with accessing funding towards climate change adaptation.
“We have been doing planning and a lot of discussion in meetings over this month, but we notice that the actual implementation of adaptation projects is not happening because of no resources. We hope the meeting in Niue will come up with concrete actions on how to access funding towards climate change adaptation.”
The Cook Islands will also be attending the PCCR in Niue next week, and the new Government has put climate change as an issue of high priority for them and they are looking forward to a successful PCCR meeting.
“The environment is our number one asset, it underpins our tourism industry which is our number one economic driver and if we don’t look after it or fix it the problems associated with it very quickly, we put at risk our ability to earn through the tourism industry,” stated Mr. Mark Brown, the Minister of Finance for the Cook Islands.
For more information on the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable, 2011 in Alofi Niue, please visit: http://www.sprep.org/climate_change/PCCR/index.asp
The meeting will be held in Alofi, Niue from 14 to 18 March, 2011.
By Makereta Komai for Climate Pasifika in Bonn, Germany
10 June 2010, Bonn, Germany --- A showdown between the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) supported by over 110 countries against Gulf States closed Wednesday’s session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA).
AOSIS had proposed that SBSTA request the United Nations climate change secretariat to prepare a technical paper on the social and economical impacts of the mitigation scenarios of 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius of average global temperature.
The proposal was shot down by representatives of the four Gulf States of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
“The necessary pledges required to achieve the scenarios mentioned would require a great deal more than the capacity of the secretariat to undertake and will therefore not accept a compromised text, said Saudi Arabia.
The four Gulf States questioned the need for technical paper given that the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had already released its 4th Assessment Report.
“How can the secretariat produce such a report in just a few months before Cancun? I don’t think we should proceed in that direction and come with a half baked view in 2-3 months, argued Saudi Arabia.
Barbados and Grenada on behalf of AOSIS clarified that the technical paper hopes to pool together all the sciences available in the public domain to assist vulnerable states address climate change.
Adding its voice to the AOSIS proposal, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) reiterated the importance of the technical analysis of the social and economic impacts of the mitigation scenarios to small and vulnerable states.
“For us the impacts of sea level rise are of enormous importance. This technical paper could provide information to help us with policy decisions. It’s a tool that we could have in some short months.
“It’s puzzling to see objections from the floor, said FSM.
On Thursday, a quick diplomatic intervention brokered by Venezuela resolved the impasse which remained unresolved from Thursday night.
Venezuela introduced a compromised text which required the secretariat to prepare a technical paper, on its own will, before the Cancun meeting.
Discussions spilled over to Thursday when the chair ruled to postpone debate until the next meeting of the scientific body in Cancun.
A disappointed AOSIS chair, Grenada diplomat, Ambassador Dessima Williams said the responses of the ‘few countries’ that opposed the AOSIS proposal ‘borders on alarming.’
“I find it incomprehensible that our simple request has been met with much opposition. But I find comfort in the fact that the opposition is only limited and look forward to a return of this issue in Cancun."
Ambassador Colin Beck of Solomon Islands was disappointed but didn’t want to let the decision of SBSTA affect other important issues for small island states at the negotiations here in Bonn.
“In these negotiations, when we fall, we get up again and look for another window to keep pressing our issue. While the 1.5 degrees is central to our negotiating position, we need Parties to understand us and we understand them. We need to continue with the spirit of reaching out to each other that has begun here in Bonn", said Ambassador Beck.
When SBSTA resumed Thursday morning, young people carrying banner with 1.5 degree messages lined the corridor leading to the conference centre to remind delegates of the kind of future they are giving to them if they oppose the AOSIS proposal.
“This message is directed at Saudi Arabia especially said a 20 year old German student who was part of the 350.org group of young people holding placards.
“We want a safe and secure future for us, said another.
112 countries, including the powerful G77 group, the European Union, Australia and New Zealand supported small island states call for a technical paper.
Ms Makereta Komai will be covering the Bonn Climate Change negotiations from 31 May – 11 June 2010, thanks to support from Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She will provide daily coverage of the negotiations via PACNEWS and the SPREP website www.sprep.org, the climate pasifika blogspot, http://climatepasifika.blogspot.com and the PINA Green page http://green.pina.com.fj/
By Makereta Komai of Climate Pasifika in Bonn, Germany
06 June 2010, Bonn, Germany – Moves are afoot to set up a Pacific arm of the influential Climate Action Network (CAN), a worldwide network of about 500 non-governmental organisations across the globe that promotes action on climate change.
Initial ground work discussions have been advanced here in Bonn during the climate change talks.
Leading the Pacific charge is former attorney general of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and climate change activist, Marstella Jack.
“I am part of the FSM government delegation and that’s the beauty of climate change negotiations for us in the Pacific. It brings the government and civil societies together to be on the same page, Jack said.
Cook Islands and Tuvalu are keen to set up their climate action network organisations, said Jack.
“Now we have Kiribati expressing interest to join us. They’ve given us the go ahead to set up what we call a regional node. It’s just our laid back attitude in the Pacific that we are taking our time to set up.
“I have approached Marshall Islands and a lady in the delegation is keen on the idea. If we get the Pacific node up and running, new organisations can then join us, said Jack.
CAN International has had to revise its position on the global temperature to enable membership from the Pacific
“Last year we had some difficulties, the overall position of CAN was 2.0 degrees average in global temperature and as you know we were advocating for 1.5 degrees. That has changed now.
“After the release of many scientific reports, CAN International has now realised that they need to readjust their position.”
A charter of the association for the new climate change NGO in the Pacific is now ready to be registered.
“We are looking at registering it in Tuvalu. Once that is done, we will need to look for funds to get a co-ordinator on board. At the same time, we should consider applying for observer status at the Pacific Islands Forum”, said Jack.
Kiribati, Jack said, has also expressed its interest to join CAN Pacific.
“We have enough right now but it’s better to have more from the rest of the Pacific Islands so that we become inclusive and representative of the whole region, more so the low lying islands of Marshalls, Tuvalu and Kiribati. We want them to be involved because they need to be the ones carrying the torch for us in the region.”
Climate Action Network Pacific will be focused on climate change and its cross cutting issues, said Jack.
“This is the first time that we have to come together to say enough is enough. We need to be focused, strong and build the capacity of members. Climate change demands us as NGOs and governments to come together to demand action from the polluters.
CAN members promote information exchange and coordinate development of NGO strategy on international, regional, and national climate issues. It has seven regional offices which co-ordinate these efforts in Africa, Australia, Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Latin America, North America, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Its vision is to protect the atmosphere while allowing for sustainable and equitable development worldwide.
Ms Komai will be covering the Bonn Climate Change negotiations from 31 May – 11 June 2010, thanks to support from Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She will provide daily coverage of the negotiations via PACNEWS and the SPREP website www.sprep.org, the climate pasifika blogspot, http://climatepasifika.blogspot.com and the PINA Green page http://green.pina.com.fj/
By Makereta Komai for Climate Pasifika in Bonn, Germany
04 June 2010 Bonn, Germany --- A report released this week by Auckland University claiming that many low lying Pacific Island nations are ‘growing, not sinking’ has attracted strong criticism from one Pacific climate change negotiator here in Bonn, Germany.
Ambassador Colin Beck of Solomon Islands questioned the timing of the release of the report, especially when the Pacific and other Alliance of Small Island States are pursuing recognition for their special vulnerability to the impact of climate change.
“This kind of science in our view is short sighted.
“It is sad to see a university from our region make general statement without looking at the long term implications. Off course all corals are growing but they are sensitive to temperature. You cannot say the same thing if the sea continues to rise and to ocean acidification which results in coral bleaching.
“Unfortunately, the timing of the report is not right for us and we see it as sending a wrong signal.
“While we believe that the outcome has to be science driven, this kind of science is a little bit short sighted in our view.
“It is politicised science because it tries to bring in a different science reality into the political reality to give the perception that things will be good in the long run.
According to a BBC report published Friday, the islands of Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia are among those which have grown, because of coral debris and sediment.
The study, featured in the magazine the New Scientist, predicts that the islands will still be there in 100 years' time. However it is still unsure whether many of them will be inhabitable.
In recent times, the inhabitants of many low-lying Pacific islands have come to fear their homelands being wiped off the map because of rising sea levels. But this study of 27 islands over the last 60 years suggests that most have remained stable, while some have actually grown.
Associate Professor Paul Kench of Auckland University, who took part in the study, published in the journal Global and Planetary Change says the islands are not in immediate danger of extinction.
“That rather gloomy prognosis for these nations is incorrect,” he told the BBC.
“We have now got the evidence to suggest that the physical foundation of these countries will still be there in 100 years, so they perhaps do not need to flee their country.”
But although these islands might not be submerged under the waves in the short-term, it does not mean they will be inhabitable in the long-term, and the scientists believe further rises in sea levels pose a significant danger to the livelihoods of people living in Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Federated States of Micronesia.
One scientist in Kiribati said that people should not be lulled into thinking that inundation and coastal erosion were not a major threat.
Ms Komai will be covering the Bonn Climate Change negotiations from 31 May – 11 June 2010, thanks to support from Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). She will provide daily coverage of the negotiations via PACNEWS and the SPREP website www.sprep.org, the climate pasifika blogspot, http://climatepasifika.blogspot.com and the PINA Green page http://green.pina.com.fj/
