Climate Change

John Key is attending the Forum leaders meeting in Port Moresby which opened last night.

The meeting was preceded by declarations by Small Islands States, NGOs and Fiji's Pacific Islands Development Forum calling for greater action including no more than a 1.5 degree rise in global temperature above pre-industrial levels.

Developed nations have traditionally looked at two degrees as a more realistic target.

Mr Key says he is happy with the work New Zealand has done to fight climate change.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi had just come back on Thursday from her visit to Fiji, where she attended the Pacific Island Development Forum (PIDF) and discussed how to build resilience to climate change.

“The focus is how the Pacific Islands prepare adaptation and mitigation measures for climate change,” the ministry’s spokesperson, Armanatha Nasir, said .

Kiribati president Anote Tong made the call at the Pacific Islands Forum — which started in Port Moresby on Monday — where Pacific nations have gathered to form a united position to take to the Paris COP21 meeting in December.

“What we are talking about is survival, it's not about economic development... it's not politics, it's survival,” Tong said.

Tong said Australia and New Zealand should use their relative regional power to advocate for smaller countries.

A senior official attending the small island states leaders’ summit told Islands Business that his country is unhappy about the draft Pacific Island Forum statement on climate change that is already in circulation among Forum delegates.

Yet to be released publicly, the document reportedly supports a 2 degrees temperate rise target, instead of the 1.5 degrees being advocated by small island states who are members of AOSIS, the Alliance of Small Island States 2 degrees is the preferred target of industrialised countries, of which Australia and New Zealand are members of. 

Briefing journalists in Port Moresby Saturday, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat’s acting climate change finance adviser, Exley Taloiburi said the draft text will be further tweaked by Senior Officials before the Leaders retreat in Port Moresby on Thursday. Forum member countries were given another opportunity to comment on the proposed political statement before the draft is ready for the Leaders this week.

Leaders of Cook Island, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru Palau and Tuvalu meet at the Laguna Hotel in Port Moresby ahead of the Pacific Island Leaders’ Summit this week.

The Niue government was not present as their team  is yet to arrive in Port Moresby.

In a press conference they issued a special declaration on climate change that demanded the world limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and that countries uphold the principle of "polluter pays".

Islands nations should press Australia and NZ on climate change: Polye

http://www.looppng.com/content/islands-nations-should-press-australia-and-nz-climate-change-polye-1

Opposition Leader Don Polye says Pacific Island leaders who will gather for the 46th Pacific Island Forum meeting should make a strong statement on damages to pacific island countries by climate change.

He says leaders need to push for Australia and New Zealand to support calls by the Pacific Islands on environmental damages to land and sea by climate change.

Polye also says leaders must discuss solutions to sea level rise, sinking islands, shortage of food and clean water and many more.

“There are challenges posed by climate change we cannot control, as a result our women and children are suffering,’” he says.

Polye says Pacific island leaders should consider a carbon trading scheme and a green fund scheme for pacific islands.

The issue will likely dominate this week’s Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ summit in Port Moresby, ahead of the United Nations climate change conference in Paris later in the year.

Pacific leaders want the world to work on restricting the global warming temperature rise to 1.5C, fearing a 2C target will risk the survival of many tiny islands.

Natural disaster recovery will be fresh on their minds. The summit starts on Monday, six months after Cyclone Pam, which flattened much of Vanuatu and caused heavy flooding on Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands.

Ban made the appeal in separate meetings with the President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang, Vice Premier Liu Yandong, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, where he attended commemorative events in the Chinese capital marking the 70th anniversary of the Second World War.