Climate Change

Australia has announced that it will support the Pacific in its quest to have a legally binding agreement at the United Nations Climate Change (COP21) talks in France later this month.

Minister for International Development and the Pacific Steven Ciobo, made the revelation while launching the Tide Gauge system in Niue Wednesday.

The announcement is good news for the region as pleas from Pacific Islands to Australia in the past to reduce its greenhouse emissions fell on deaf ears.

Over the past three years, Palau’s government agencies, civil society and the private sector have worked proactively to complete this policy which has as its vision “Happy, healthy, sustainable and resilient communities in a changing world”.

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is the world body responsible for overseeing the exchange of plant genetic resources for agriculture.

The meeting of the 136-nation pact will discuss expanding the list of plant species in the Treaty’s global gene pool and a subscription model for users of crop diversity to generate income for farmers conserving ancestral crops in the field. This will be in addition to the Treaty’s current benefit-sharing fund that has directly helped nearly half a million poor farmers.

Kiribati, with help from the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation, is hosting a conference to consider how to prepare for climate migrants to move in a dignified way.

The Kiribati Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Akka Rimon, says it is part of the gradual process of preparation for something that will become inevitable.

She says one thing they will want to look at will be extensions to existing labour mobility arrangements with countries like Australia and New Zealand.

The call was to successfully implement and meet the objectives of Agenda 2030 and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“If our collective will to implement the 2030 Agenda is sincere, then it is essential to greatly enhance the means and mechanisms of implementation on a much greater scale than those recommended in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda,” said, Caleb Otto, Permanent Representative of Palau to the United Nations, referring to another recently adopted plank making up the UN post-2015 framework, this one dealing with development financing.

Representing Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, Foreign Minister Pato raised the issues at a meeting of Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders with the United States Assistant Secretary of State, Mr Danny Russell in New York on Friday.

Minister Pato further expressed his desire for United States’ backing at the COP21 Conference in Paris this year on climate issues that are of vital significance to lives and communities in the Pacific.

Accounting for over 85 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, calling it a “positive first step” towards achieving a universal climate change agreement this December.

The action plans, or Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), will form the basis of the agreement expected to be reached at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP21, to be held in Paris.

The Office of Insular Affairs is accepting applications for 2016 technical assistance which will be processed on a first-come, first-serve basis until funds are exhausted.

Assistant Secretary Esther Kia'aina says the island communities continue to face extreme climate events, including typhoons and hurricanes, storm surges, high winds and king tides.

Ms Kia'aina says the areas are also feeling the effects of slow, progressive climate-induced stresses, such as sea level rise, ocean acidification, coral bleaching and saline intrusion into water systems.

Kiribati will next week host a summit that will also involve the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, the Maldives, Tokelau and others, brought together under the aegis of the Prince Albert of Monaco Foundation.

The Kiribati Government says the 'High Level Meeting on Climate Induced Migration' is about the countries affected taking action.

The Kiribati Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Akka Rimon, says sea level rise is happening and becoming more severe, and the atoll states want to ensure climate induced migrants are catered for in a dignified way.

“You speak for the most vulnerable. That is why I am counting on you to raise your voices to build political momentum to resolve outstanding issues,” Ban told the meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum.

“The PIF is crucial to realizing our global vision for a sustainable future.”

Ban noted that this year Member States have agreed on key global policies – on disaster risk reduction, on financing for development, and most recently on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which collectively aim to ensure the long-term well-being of the planet and its people.