Visiting Fiji for the first time as Secretary-General, António Guterres outlined two “fundamental challenges” facing leaders attending the Pacific Islands Forum on Thursday, namely climate change and the world’s rising ocean, which threatens to submerge low-lying nations.
“The Pacific region is on the frontline of climate change”, he said. “That means you are also our important allies in the fight against it”.
The UN chief said that he was there “to see the region’s climate pressures firsthand, and to learn about the work being undertaken by communities here in Fiji and elsewhere to bolster resilience”.
Noting that the last four years were the hottest on record, Mr. Guterres highlighted recent ice losses in Greenland and Antarctica, saying that “sea levels will rise a full meter by 2100”.
In the Pacific specifically, he said that sea-levels are set to rise in some countries four times above the global average, posing “an existential threat to some island States”.
Providing “ample evidence of the region’s vulnerability” the UN chief cited recent damage caused by Tropical Cyclones Gita, Josie and Keni as well as by volcanic eruptions and earthquakes and other extreme weather events in the region.
“Climate change will further worsen the risks”, he spelled out, noting that the salinization of water and crops is endangering food security and escalating the impact on public health.
He maintained that climate change also brings “clear dangers” for international peace and security, pointing to the 2018 Boe Declaration, which reaffirms climate change as the single greatest threat to the wellbeing of the Pacific.
Mr. Guterres said that he recently appointed a task force to coordinate UN initiatives to address these challenges.
“Military strategists see clearly the possibility of climate impacts increasing tensions over resources and mass movements of people”, he continued. “As coastal areas or degraded inland areas become uninhabitable, people will seek safety and better lives elsewhere”.
Recalling that more than 24 million people in 118 countries and territories were displaced by natural disasters in 2016, he told Pacific leaders their islands and communities “are in the forefront of global climate negotiations”.
He vowed the UN’s strong commitment “to supporting your response to climate change and reversing the negative trends that have put your cultures and very existence at risk”.