Pacific island leaders on Friday demanded urgent action from the global community to address climate change, following fresh warnings that the region would be hit harder than anywhere else on Earth.

In a communique issued at the end of a week-long gathering in the Samoan capital Apia, the Pacific nations highlighted the "significant vulnerability" they faced and called for international aid to deal with the challenge.

"Leaders called for urgent, ambitious action from the global community to address climate change, including the provision of finance," the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) said.

The forum includes countries such as low-lying Kiribati and Tuvalu, which are at risk of being swamped by rising sea levels.

Fiji, which has been battered in recent years by devastating cyclones that have become more extreme as global warming affects weather patterns, has offered permanent refuge to the peoples of Tuvalu and Kiribati.

But the nations agreed relocation is not the answer, and the bigger issues of global warming and sea-levels needed to be addressed in the exposed island states which are located in remote areas of the Pacific Ocean.

A World Bank report presented during the forum said climate change would hit the Pacific harder than anywhere else on Earth, and the region's tiny island nations need major international aid to deal with the challenge.

In the communique, PIF recognised "the significant vulnerability of forum island countries to the adverse impacts of climate change".

"With regard to the issue of fragility and vulnerability, leaders reiterated their call to the World Bank for an expanded definition of 'fragility' to take into account the vulnerabilities faced by Forum Island Countries," it said.

Aside from climate change, the forum also condemned nuclear tests by North Korea and its threats to fire missiles towards the US territory of Guam.

Although Guam is not a member of PIF, an attack on it "constitutes a threat to the wider Pacific islands region", members said.

The communique said forum members, who oversee some of the world's most lucrative fishing waters, were committed to deregistering any North Korean trading or fishing vessels currently flagged on Pacific states' shipping registers.

Tweet

Climate change deepens threat to Pacific island wildlife
Paris (AFP) July 13, 2017
Land mammals and reptiles in the Pacific islands facing extinction due to habitat loss, hunting and other threats could be decimated by climate change, a study published Thursday said. Ocean-bound wildlife is particularly vulnerable to environmental pressures, especially endemic species living on only one or a handful of islands. Among other things, this remoteness makes migrating to another ... read more

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