Island voices "absolutely vital" in COP21, says Obama [1]
Thursday, December 3, 2015 - 16:51. Updated on Thursday, December 3, 2015 - 17:51.
US President Barack Obama in Paris on Tuesday met with leaders of Pacific Island states and other vulnerable island states that are facing significant risk because of climate change, to talk about the need to conclude the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP21 with an “ambitious agreement.”
The goal of COP21 is for a universal and potentially legally binding agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The 40-odd countries in the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) negotiating group at the climate change conference face rising sea levels that threaten their land.
In a statement the Pacific Islands Forum, reported that the meeting was attended by the Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Hon. Peter O’Neill; the president of Kiribati, HE Anote Tong, the President of the Marshall Isands, HE Christopher Loeak and the leaders of Barbados, the Seychelles and Saint Lucia.
Ata news conference President Obama said he reminded the gathering that "I am an island boy - I grew up on an island and understand both the beauty but also the fragility of island ecosystems. I spent time in Indonesia, a large developing country where you could see how shifts in climate could have extraordinarily destructive effects.”
President Obama stressed that the views and the voices of the smaller islands nations in these negotiations will be "absolutely vital".
"One of the things that we have heard, the consensus between the United States and these smaller nations is that we have to have an ambitious agreement,” he said.
"The bottom line is this, the nations that are represented by the leaders right here today...have a right to dignity and to a sense of place and continuity of culture as everybody else does Their voice is vital in making sure that the kind of agreement that emerges here in Paris is not just serving the interests of the most powerful, but is serving the interests of the most vulnerable as well."
Critical demand
One of the critical demands of the Pacific Islands Forum is for Global temperature not to rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius.
PM Hon. Peter O’Neill thanked President Obama for arranging the meeting and said he looked forward to further engagement on the important issue of climate change that is affecting many lives in the Pacific.
“At the Paris conference we need to set ambitious targets that all countries can aim for, and these must be targets that have real impact on climate change.
“Weak targets will not be enough and will only provide an excuse for some countries not to be proactive.
“This is the right time for ambitious targets as there are countries that are facing terrible risk and they need action now. It is important that we have a balanced outcome from this meeting,” said O’Neill.
He also called for the establishment of an international fund to support endangered communities that can draw on existing functional structures.
“We need to establish a climate fiund that is effective in that funds can be transparently accessed in a timely manner and it helps to rebuild communities.
“In the commitments made by the international community, priority must be given to the most vulnerable nations dealing with rising sea levels, severe droughts and extreme tropical storms.”