Eight Pacific Islands Nations, members of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) met virtually last week to address the regions’ most urgent climate change policy priorities.
They adopted a Regional Communique with a set of 16 recommendations at the CVF Pacific Regional Dialogue, held virtually from 1-3 September.
The CVF program coordinator, Ms Selamawiot Desta Wubet said these most vulnerable countries deliberated on regional policy concerns outside of the formal United Nations negotiation channels, and other stakeholders had participated.
These Pacific Islands Nations are at the frontline of climate change impacts, with sea level rise, droughts, flooding, salt water intrusion, cyclones and ocean acidification causing significant difficulties to the livelihoods of their people.
The eight Pacific Islands nations, which are members of the CVF, are: Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. (Tonga is not a member).
The CVF is an international forum for countries most threatened by climate change.
It was founded by the Maldives at Male in 2009 and has 48 members from across five regions including: Africa, Asia the Caribbean, Latin America and the Pacific, and represents some 1.2 billion people worldwide.
At the virtual meeting of the CVF Pacific members on September 1-3, among the recommendations in the communiqué that they have adopted was a call for:
- An end to the International Financing of Coal Plants
- A shift in Finance and Investment to Renewable Energy projects,
- The establishment of a dedicated Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Council.
The findings from other CVF regional dialogues in Latin America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, and Asia will be reviewed at the CVF Senior Officials meeting hosted by Bangladesh in October.
