Results for Climate change

Before it has even been agreed upon, the world is already failing the current proposal for the new Climate Change agreement to reduce global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. While the Pacific islands call for the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees, the reality is the combination of all national pledges now on the table takes it to over 3 degrees Celsius. - SPREP

Action Day at COP 21 in Paris, France has thrust the environmental leadership of the Pacific islands at the forefront of a Pacific Press Conference featuring the Heads of State from the Cook Islands, Palau and Tuvalu.

Delegations from 15 Pacific Island countries recently attended a workshop to develop recognized accreditation in vocational education on climate change and sustainable energy in the Pacific.

Tonga’s Prime Minister, Hon. ‘Akilisi Pohiva Akilisi challenged world leaders to have moral commitment and moral courage to address climate change and global inequalities; and not be distracted by political priorities, when he made his first address to the United Nations General Assembly on 29 September. At the same time, he stated that his government was considering removing constraints to sustainable development “such as cultural perceptions and religious dogma.”

Kiribati President Anote Tong today, 13 August 2015 called for a global and immediate moratorium on all new coal mines and coal mine expansions, and has called on all State leaders to back his call to action in the lead up to the Paris climate talks in December.

Tonga's Crown Prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukālala urged Pacific Ministers for Meteorology to find ways to advance climate and weather services in our region and to build resilience to high impact weather events on our small islands, when he opened the First Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Meteorology today 24 July in Nuku'alofa.

Understanding the role of the Meteorological Service and communicating weather, climate and disaster response information in a manner communities understand, is the focus of a three day workshop that opened at the National Emergency Management Office (NEMO) in Vaololoa this morning.

Tongatapu's tiny offshore island Monuafe has eroded and receded into the ocean. It is now a submerged sand bar that appears briefly at low tide - the remnants of a forgotten island, with few knowing that it ever existed. Illegal sand mining and cyclones have been blamed for the swift erosion, however, Monuafe could be Tonga’s first victim of sea-level rising.

After visiting Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, on August 14 expressed his concern over the effects of Climate Change on Pacific Islands.