Sydney, Australia, Aug 26 (EFE).- United Nations Secretary General António Guterres on Monday said “if we save the Pacific, we save the world» from the climate crisis, at the opening of the Pacific Islands Forum in the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa.
«The decisions world leaders take in the coming years will determine the fate, first of Pacific Islanders – but also of everyone else,» Guterres said, according to a transcript of his speech.
«In other words: If we save the Pacific, we save the world,» added the UN chief, insisting on international financial and technical cooperation for the region that is on the frontline of the climate crisis.
Guterres echoed the demands of the Pacific Islands Forum, a bloc that includes island nations and territories vulnerable to rising water levels that cause the loss of their land and water contamination, and which continues to demand more action against global warming.
This bloc promotes the Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, a climate and geopolitical roadmap for the islands until 2050, which seeks international cooperation to defend the environment, especially the oceans, which are a source of resources essential for their survival, as well as a key component of their cultures and ways of life.
In this context, Guterres denounces that humanity “is treating the sea as a sewer. Plastic pollution is choking marine life. Greenhouse gases are causing ocean heating, acidification, and a dramatic and accelerating rise in sea levels.»
The UN secretary-general also called on major emitters to «step up and lead, by phasing out the production and consumption of fossil fuels and stopping their expansion immediately.»
Guterres also stressed that while much of the world is mired in conflict, injustice and socio-economic crises, «the young people of the Pacific have taken the climate crisis all the way to the International Court of Justice» and stressed that this region «is a beacon of solidarity and strength, environmental stewardship and peace.»
In addition to the climate crisis, this year’s Forum, which includes a leaders’ meeting on Thursday, is marked by various issues such as political problems in New Caledonia, China’s influence in the Pacific, security and economic resilience, among others.
The Pacific Islands Forum brings together Australia, Fiji, the Cook Islands, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, while Kiribati has announced its withdrawal from the organization. EFE
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