(Apia) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that some Pacific territories risk being “wiped out” by cyclones, ocean heatwaves and rising sea levels caused by climate change.
“High and rising sea levels pose a huge threat to Samoa, the Pacific and other small island developing states, and these challenges require resolute international action,” he said during a visit to Apia, the capital of Samoa.
While Pacific countries contribute just 0.02% of global carbon emissions, they are “on the front lines of the climate crisis, facing extreme weather events, from raging tropical cyclones to record ocean heatwaves,” the UN chief continued.
The fate of these islands depends on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, Mr. Guterres said, a goal that nearly 200 countries agreed to strive to achieve at COP21 in 2015.
He urged rich countries to meet their commitments to finance the impacts of climate change in developing countries, and called for international action to combat overfishing and plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean.
Antonio Guterres also took the opportunity to give his opinion on the power and influence struggles being waged in the region between China, the United States and their allies.
“The Pacific is best run by Pacific Islanders. It must never become a forum for geostrategic competition.”