(ORDO NEWS) — During the UN General Assembly, the leaders of the countries of Oceania issued an appeal to the world community to help save the islands in the Pacific Ocean.
With the melting of ice and even a relatively small rise in the world ocean, the states of Oceania are threatened with extinction.
As world leaders acknowledge the “existential threat” of climate change, Tuvaluan Prime Minister Kausea Natano wants to save his island nation from sinking.
Its goal is to raise the island 4–5 meters above sea level through land reclamation. His concern is shared by the President of the Marshall Islands, David Kabua, writes Associated Press .
For people living in these island countries, global warming is anything but an abstract threat. They have to live and wait to be flooded.
Natano and Kabua tried to draw attention to this danger at the UN General Assembly. They launched the Rising Nations Initiative, a global partnership dedicated to preserving the sovereignty, heritage and rights of the Pacific island nations.
Natano described how rising sea levels have already affected everything from the soil on which crops are grown to houses, roads and power lines that are washed away by water. According to him, life is becoming unbearable, people are leaving, the country is disappearing.
How the islands die
“Pacific atolls are dying,” Natano said. “Our islands will soon cease to exist.”
The Rising Nations Initiative requires the political consolidation of the international community to protect the sovereignty and rights of the island countries.
The initiative should include the creation of a comprehensive program to fund projects that will help the citizens of the Pacific countries to survive, to preserve their linguistic and cultural heritage.
The initiative has already received support from countries such as the US, Germany, South Korea and Canada.
They recognized that island nations such as Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands are the hardest hit by the effects of climate change.
The Prime Minister of Malta, a European island nation, Robert Abela has pointed out the serious threat posed by climate change to everyone, but especially to small island developing states and coastal communities.
“This threatens state sovereignty, entails the loss of territory and damages the critical infrastructure of states, as well as their rights to maritime borders,” Abela said.
Representatives of other countries, UN members agreed that the island states are in the zone of the greatest risk due to climate change.
But whether they will do enough to make a difference remains to be seen. What is well known, if the world community does nothing, very many island states will not cope with the flooding and will simply disappear.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.