. Earth Science News .
WATER WORLD
Pacific leaders struggle to keep focus on climate at key summit
By Maddison Connaughton
Suva, Fiji (AFP) July 12, 2022

US-China rivalry and an inter-island rift overshadowed the start of a landmark Pacific summit Tuesday, hampering efforts to focus world attention on the islands' dire climate crisis.

This year's Pacific Islands Forum is the region's most important meeting in years, coming after a Covid-enforced hiatus and as low-lying tropical isles run out of time for climate action.

Fiji president and forum chair Voreqe Bainimarama opened Tuesday's first meeting with a warning that the "runaway climate change crisis" threatened the security and sovereignty of many Pacific nations.

But instead of a singular focus on the threat of rising sea levels and ever-more-powerful storms, a shock decision by Beijing-allied leaders in Kiribati to quit the forum altogether, revealed on the eve of the summit, loomed over proceedings.

Geopolitical jostling between the United States and China has been building since Solomon Islands controversial signed a security pact with Beijing in April.

United States Vice President Kamala Harris announced Tuesday that she would make an unprecedented video appearance at the summit -- usually restricted to Pacific nations, Australia and New Zealand.

- 'Fight this emergency' -

Leaders gathered at Suva's luxurious Grand Pacific Hotel will discuss a strategy to guide the Pacific through to 2050, keenly focused on the existential threat posed by climate change.

They will also debate announcing a climate emergency in the Pacific and whether to endorse a push, spearheaded by Vanuatu, to ask the International Court of Justice to weigh in on nations' climate obligations.

Vanuatuan prime minister Bob Loughman said Tuesday that the people of the region "are calling on us, Pacific leaders, to take action to fight this emergency".

But Kiribati's exit from the forum has sparked concerns about a fracturing of the Pacific's closely held unity, which gives the region of small island states heft in global climate negotiations.

Tuvaluan foreign minister Simon Kofe told AFP he was "surprised and saddened" by Kiribati's departure, but was optimistic the nation could be enticed to rejoin.

Last year, Kofe made headlines when he addressed the COP summit standing knee-deep in water to draw attention to the threat climate change poses to his low-lying nation, which may disappear below rising seas in the next 50 years.

Faced with such a threat, his priority at the summit is climate change -- Tuvalu will be pushing for a focus on statehood and climate financing.

Concerns about regional security -- brought to the fore by the Solomons-China pact -- "draw a bit of attention away from climate change", Kofe said.

- Security versus climate -

The summit will be a test of Australia's newly elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who has pledged to do more on climate and to heal his country's fractured relationship with the Pacific.

At the last Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting, held in 2019, negotiations descended into shouting and tears as Australia's former government attempted to muzzle leaders who wanted to issue a global call for climate action.

But Albanese also wants to use the summit to raise his concerns about security developments in the region in the wake of the Solomons-China deal.

Speaking to media Tuesday, the leader sought to knit the issues of climate and security together.

"Our neighbours in the Pacific understand that climate change is a national security issue," he told a press conference in Sydney.


Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


WATER WORLD
Pacific islands research yields new findings on world's earliest seafarers
Boston MA (SPX) Jul 01, 2022
New genetic research from remote islands in the Pacific offers fresh insights into the ancestry and culture of the world's earliest seafarers, including family structure, social customs, and the ancestral populations of the people living there today. The work, described in the journal Science, reveals five previously undocumented migrations into a subregion of this area and suggests that about 2,500 to 3,500 years ago early inhabitants of these Pacific islands - including Guam in the northern regi ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

WATER WORLD
Child among nine killed in Pakistan mine flood

Belgium army steps in as asylum system overwhelmed

Rescuers gather body parts after Italy glacier collapse

Rescuers gather body parts after Italy glacier collapse

WATER WORLD
Smart textiles sense how their users are moving

US giant 3M agrees big payout in Belgium chemical scandal

WVU researchers won't hit snooze on mattress recycling needs

Chinese ice cream brand under fire for products that don't melt

WATER WORLD
Pacific leaders struggle to keep focus on climate at key summit

'Desperate for water': drought hits Mexican industrial powerhouse

Wellington wastewater a security headache for China

What is a pond? Study provides first data-driven definition

WATER WORLD
'In the mouth of dragons': Melting glaciers threaten Pakistan's north

Italy blames climate change for glacier collapse, 7 dead

Dinosaurs took over amid ice, not warmth, says a new study of ancient mass extinction

Thawing permafrost is shaping the global climate

WATER WORLD
DataFarming bringing Pixxel's hyperspectral imaging to Australian farmers

Amazon, Just Eat deal to offer free Grubhub delivery in US

Ploughing and tilling soil on slopes is jeopardizing future farm yields

Wildfire threatens major Greek olive grove

WATER WORLD
16 dead in flash floods at Indian Kashmir pilgrimage site

Volcano's eruption will help scientists plot weather, climate

I.Coast June floods killed 19: official

Thousands more flee as Sydney floods track north

WATER WORLD
Six soldiers killed in jihadist attack in southeast Niger

DR Congo politicians urge stricter weapons monitoring; Ugandan private kills two in DRC east

Niger says bloody jihadist attack crushed

US warns of jihadists and Russian forces as Africa war games end

WATER WORLD
Experts developing wearable technology to support women to remain active as they age

White children are more likely to be overdiagnosed and overtreated for ADHD

Connectivity of language areas unique in the human brain

Rainforest chimpanzees are digging wells for cleaner water









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.