Pacific leaders endorse Climate Change Action Plan [1]
Monday, September 14, 2015 - 21:24
The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders group endorsed its declaration for Climate Change Action Plan during its 46th annual meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea from 8-10 September.
The Pacific declaration will be among declarations from other regions and countries of the world to the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP21 to be held in Paris, France from November 30 to December 11.
Pacific Leaders “reiterated their concerns that Climate Change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihood, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific.”
They called for the adoption of an ambitious and legally binding agreement at the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP21.
Expressing their grave concern that Pacific Islands are already facing adverse effects of climate change with the current average global temperature increase of 0.85 degree Celsius, they warned that “any further warming could push many countries beyond their capacity to adapt.”
They declared that an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius “would severely exacerbate the particular challenges facing the most vulnerable smaller island states of the Pacific . . .”
They pleaded for all efforts to be made to stay within the global temperature goal of below 1.5 Celsius that was noted by the conference of parties to the UNFCCC in its decision of 1/CP20 in Lima, Peru in 2014.
Pacific Leaders agreed to extend the two regional frameworks: the Pacific Islands Framework for Action on Climate Change, and the Pacific Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management Framework for Action for one year.