Fiji’s Prime Minister, Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, has urged Commonwealth heads of government to deliver on their commitments to cut CO2 emissions.
Fiji’s Prime Minister, Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, has urged Commonwealth heads of government to deliver on their commitments to cut CO2 emissions.
He was speaking at the ‘Climate Change and the Commonwealth: Accelerating Action’ event at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) this morning.
“Friends, all of us have made commitments under the Paris Agreement to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. And we rightly expect those commitments to be honoured. We also know that we could and should do more than we are currently obliged to do,” he said.
Limiting climate change to a rise of 1.5 degrees celsius - the Paris aspiration - Mr Bainimarama stressed, does not go far enough to avert a catastrophe. He called on his counterparts to consider the impact that climate change is already having on vulnerable small island states like Fiji, which is being constantly battered by cyclones.
He said, “Imagine what it is like for my people in the affected areas. Just as you begin surveying the damage to your home, your possessions, your business and, in some cases, come to terms with the loss of family members and friends, another cyclone bears down on you. Imagine what it is like for my government having to replace vital infrastructure that has already been replaced after previous events”.
His sentiments were echoed by leaders and ministers around the table, who called for a dedicated climate change forum for leaders attending CHOGM.
Claire Perry, The UK minister of state for energy and clean growth, reiterated her country’s commitment to clean energy and supporting climate change initiatives through funding and assistance.
She said: “We have an opportunity to protect, to heal those vital parts of this vulnerable planet we all call home. It is through collective action and working together that we can actually be that change.”
Secretary-General Scotland showcased the Commonwealth Climate change programme and pledged to ramp-up support to vulnerable countries bearing the brunt of its effects.
She announced a range of interventions including plans for innovative debt initiatives, legal toolkits, surveillance, monitoring and technical capacity resources and special support to countries rebuilding after a serious climate event.
Leaders, ministers, senior officials and experts at the meeting also heard how the Commonwealth’s flagship Climate Finance Access Hub was helping countries to finance green economy models.
The Secretary-General said, “We see desertification and water shortage in many parts of Africa. Our newly returned friends from Gambia are also completely on the frontline when it comes to sea level rise. I witnessed the devastation in the Caribbean first hand and can tell you that the existential threat of climate change is real; especially when decades of progress can be wiped out overnight, such as in Barbuda, and in Dominica, where I was born.
“Honourable Ministers, we must stand shoulder to shoulder and find real solutions to these challenges, which will only multiply if not addressed,” The Secretary-General said.
Regenerative Development expert Ben Haggard introduced Common Earth - a new Commonwealth initiative in partnership with the Cloudburst Foundation.
The initiative, he explained, “starts from the principle that we must heal underlying systems that generate and sustain life”.
Anote Tong, Chair of the Commonwealth High Level Group and former president of Kiribati, congratulated the Commonwealth Secretariat for launching Common Earth.
