Climate Change Resilience
"We need to rename Climate Change to Climate Crisis" - H.E Gerson Jackson, FSM Ambassador to Fiji.
28 April 2015, Noumea, New Caledonia - It has been over a month since the Cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu, with a wide reach that also lashed out at Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu and while the recovery efforts are still underway, much more support is needed.
Voices from Vanuatu, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands were shared at the Oceania 21 Summit in New Caledonia yesterday, a sharing of experiences, impacts and response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Pam.
Photo by Brad Holland, from the Kaselehlie Press
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) also spoke on the impacts of Typhoon Mayask and the current state of the country in its wake, in particular islands in the states of Chuuk and Yap.
The intensity of weather events is likely to increase for the Pacific island region as a consequence of climate change.
In the Federated States of Micronesia thousands of people were affected by the typhoon with millions of dollars worth of damage to infrastructure and personal property. Schools have been damaged, inundation of salt water into the fresh water lens, taro patches and other staple crops threaten the food security of the states with FSM declaring a state of emergency.
“This is no longer a change. It is a crisis. We need to rename climate change to climate crisis as there is no question about this being a primary contributing factor to all the challenges we are now facing,” said the FSM Ambassador to Fiji, H.E Gerson Jackson.
Ambassador Gerson Jackson of FSM in middle
“We have to make sure that COP 21 is successful as failure is not an option, it will only spell disaster, a gradual diminishing of life starting with people who live on these islands, the people who don’t even contribute to the cause of climate change.”
The third Oceania 21 Summit held in New Caledonia aims to strengthen a one Pacific voice to the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the UN Climate Convention in Paris at the end of this year. To set the scene for the three day meeting the first day of the summit focused solely on Tropical Cyclone Pam.
Kiribati was also impacted by the category five cyclone, an unusual occurrence for the island nation.
“We used to think that because we were so close to the equator we were immune to cyclones, but obviously we are not,” said the Kiribati High Commissioner to Fiji, Reteta Rimon-Nikuata.
“If we had the direct impact of Tropical Cyclone Pam we would have disappeared from the face of the earth given our geological make up of our islands.”
Along with damage caused to infrastructure and property both personal and public, schools also had to be closed in the islands with teachers being relocated while the rebuilding of their homes take place. The island atolls of Kiribati are linked by causeways, one in particular that links the residents between Betio and Bairiki was damaged during the king tides in February this year and then received further devastation during Cyclone Pam, causing it to be closed for several days.
The damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Pam has put further stress on the government to address these impacts while continuing to find a way forward in the face of other climate change effects.
The Kiribati High Commissioner spoke of the new surge of water born diseases experienced by residents such as the outbreak of chikunganya and, the threat to their food security weighing heavily on the mind of the islands community as salt water inundation impacts the soil.
“I don’t think we need the science to tell us that climate change is happening, it is threatening our lives and future security as nations,” said High Commissioner Rimon-Nikuata.
“I am hoping at the Oceania 21 we can work together to discuss how we can put our case in Paris at the end of this year, we need very ambitious targets with a legally binding agreement. Our future livelihoods and communities are threatened, as we are on the frontline.”
The Oceania 21 Meeting is held in Noumea, New Caledonia from 28 – 30 April, the objective of this year’s meeting is to help strengthen a one Pacific voice at the COP 21 with the endorsement of the Lifou Declaration as a major outcome of the Oceania 21.
28 April 2015, Noumea, New Caledonia - It has been over a month since the Cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu, with a wide reach that also lashed out at Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu and while the recovery efforts are still underway, much more support is needed.
Voices from Vanuatu, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands were shared at the Oceania 21 Summit in New Caledonia yesterday, a sharing of experiences, impacts and response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Pam.
Photo by Brad Holland, from the Kaselehlie PressThe Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) also spoke on the impacts of Typhoon Mayask and the current state of the country in its wake, in particular islands in the states of Chuuk and Yap.
The intensity of weather events is likely to increase for the Pacific island region as a consequence of climate change.
In the Federated States of Micronesia thousands of people were affected by the typhoon with millions of dollars worth of damage to infrastructure and personal property. Schools have been damaged, inundation of salt water into the fresh water lens, taro patches and other staple crops threaten the food security of the states with FSM declaring a state of emergency.
“This is no longer a change. It is a crisis. We need to rename climate change to climate crisis as there is no question about this being a primary contributing factor to all the challenges we are now facing,” said the FSM Ambassador to Fiji, H.E Gerson Jackson.
Ambassador Gerson Jackson of FSM in middle“We have to make sure that COP 21 is successful as failure is not an option, it will only spell disaster, a gradual diminishing of life starting with people who live on these islands, the people who don’t even contribute to the cause of climate change.”
The third Oceania 21 Summit held in New Caledonia aims to strengthen a one Pacific voice to the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the UN Climate Convention in Paris at the end of this year. To set the scene for the three day meeting the first day of the summit focused solely on Tropical Cyclone Pam.
Kiribati was also impacted by the category five cyclone, an unusual occurrence for the island nation.
“We used to think that because we were so close to the equator we were immune to cyclones, but obviously we are not,” said the Kiribati High Commissioner to Fiji, Reteta Rimon-Nikuata.
“If we had the direct impact of Tropical Cyclone Pam we would have disappeared from the face of the earth given our geological make up of our islands.”
Along with damage caused to infrastructure and property both personal and public, schools also had to be closed in the islands with teachers being relocated while the rebuilding of their homes take place. The island atolls of Kiribati are linked by causeways, one in particular that links the residents between Betio and Bairiki was damaged during the king tides in February this year and then received further devastation during Cyclone Pam, causing it to be closed for several days.
The damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Pam has put further stress on the government to address these impacts while continuing to find a way forward in the face of other climate change effects.
The Kiribati High Commissioner spoke of the new surge of water born diseases experienced by residents such as the outbreak of chikunganya and, the threat to their food security weighing heavily on the mind of the islands community as salt water inundation impacts the soil.
Kiribati High Commissioner to Fiji, Reteta Rimon-Nikuata
“I don’t think we need the science to tell us that climate change is happening, it is threatening our lives and future security as nations,” said High Commissioner Rimon-Nikuata.
“I am hoping at the Oceania 21 we can work together to discuss how we can put our case in Paris at the end of this year, we need very ambitious targets with a legally binding agreement. Our future livelihoods and communities are threatened, as we are on the frontline.”
The Oceania 21 Meeting is held in Noumea, New Caledonia from 28 – 30 April, the objective of this year’s meeting is to help strengthen a one Pacific voice at the COP 21 with the endorsement of the Lifou Declaration as a major outcome of the Oceania 21.