A Fight for Survival: Tackling the climate crisis is key to security in the Blue Pacific

Foreword

by ‘Pacific Elders Voice’

Members of the Pacific Elders Voice are happy to pen the foreword for this critical report from the Climate Council, on climate change and security in the Blue Pacific.

This report is a must-read. This is mainly because the primary security threat to the Pacific islands is climate change. Without urgent global action to cut emissions our countries, especially low-lying atoll states, face the prospect of annihilation due to rising sea levels. All Pacific countries will face severe and irreversible impacts that will wreak havoc in island communities.

Pacific leaders have again and again underlined the gravity of the situation. The 2018 Boe Declaration on Regional Security – issued by Pacific Islands Forum leaders – reaffirmed that “climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific”. At the last in-person summit of the Pacific Islands Forum, in Tuvalu in 2019, Pacific leaders issued the Kainaki II Declaration for Urgent Climate Action Now, which emphasised that: “right now, climate change and disasters are impacting all our countries. Our seas are rising, oceans are warming, and extreme events such as cyclones, flooding, drought and king tides are frequently more intense, inflicting damage and destruction on our communities and ecosystems and putting the health of our peoples at risk.” At the Tuvalu meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, young people also issued a Funafuti Declaration on Climate Change which urgently called on “governments, representatives of industry, and individuals to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas pollution”.

This new report from the Climate Council provides a timely update on the science of climate impacts in the Pacific. Drawing from the latest scientific assessments, it is a dire warning that some impacts cannot be avoided and the window to avoid catastrophic impacts is closing fast. This report also sets out some actions required from major emitters – including from Australia – in order to ensure the survival of all Pacific island states. The latest assessments are clear: global emissions must be halved during this decade. There is no room for new coal and gas…