UN chief warns raging seas will hit us all

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Pacific Islands Under Serious Threat from Rising Sea Levels

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said major polluters have a clear responsibility to reduce their emissions or risk global catastrophe.

“The Pacific is the most vulnerable region in the world today,” he told the BBC at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting in Tonga. “There is a huge injustice in the Pacific and that is why I am here.”

Small islands do not contribute to climate change, but everything that happens because of climate change is multiplied here.

But eventually, “the surging seas will catch up with us all,” he warned in a speech at the forum, as the UN releases two separate reports on rising sea levels and how they threaten Pacific island nations.

The World Meteorological Organization's report on the state of the climate in the Southwest Pacific indicates that the region faces a triple problem: an acceleration of sea level rise, a warming of the ocean and acidification (increased acidity of the seas due to the increasing absorption of carbon dioxide).

The reason is clear: greenhouse gases generated largely by the burning of fossil fuels are cooking our planet, Mr. Guterres said in a speech at the forum.

The sea takes heat literally.

This year’s theme – transformative resilience – was put to the test on opening day, when the new auditorium was flooded by heavy rains and buildings were evacuated due to an earthquake.

“This is a stark reminder of the volatility of events in our region and the importance of being prepared for anything,” Joseph Sikulu, Pacific director at 350, a climate change advocacy group, told the BBC.

Not far from the ceremony site, a street parade was held, with dancers representing the region, including people from the Torres Strait Islands, Tonga and Samoa. At the start of the parade, a large banner read: “We are not drowning, we are struggling.” Another banner read: “The sea level is rising, so are we.”

It echoes a challenge that threatens to destroy their world: The United Nations Climate Action Team released a report, “Rising Seas in a Warming World,” showing that global average sea levels are rising at a rate unprecedented in the past 3,000 years.

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Antonio Guterres (left) speaks with Lord Fatafehi ​​Fakafanua, Speaker of the Parliament of Tonga

According to the report, levels have risen by an average of 9.4 cm (3.7 inches) over the past 30 years, but in the tropical Pacific the figure has reached 15 cm.

“It's important that leaders, particularly those from Australia and Aotearoa, come and see these things for themselves, but also witness the resilience of our people,” Mr Sikulu said.

“A core part of Tongan culture is our ability to continue to be joyful despite adversity, and that’s how we exercise our resilience and to see and witness that, I think that’s going to be important.”

This is the second time that Secretary-General Guterres has attended the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting. The annual gathering brings together leaders from 18 Pacific Islands, including Australia and New Zealand.

As leaders gathered for the official opening ceremony, heavy rains caused severe flooding. Shortly afterwards, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Tonga region, highlighting its vulnerability.

In 2019, Mr Guterres visited Tuvalu where he sounded the alarm about rising sea levels. Five years later, he says he has seen real changes.

“We see everywhere a huge will to resist, a will to reduce the negative impact of climate change,” he told the BBC. “The problem is that the Pacific Islands also suffer another great injustice: the international financial instruments that exist to support countries in difficulty were not designed for countries like this.”

Mr. Guterres visited local communities on Monday whose livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels. They have been waiting seven years for a decision on funding a sea wall.

The bureaucracy, the complexity, the lack of urgency because it's a small island, far away, he said, citing the failures of the international financial system, particularly when it comes to small island developing states.

We are promised to increase the funds available for adaptation in developing countries, but the truth is that we are far from what is needed, from the solidarity that is necessary for these countries to exist.

BBC/Katy Watson

Dancers including Torres Strait Islanders, Tongans and Samoans danced in a parade before the forum

Many Pacific Islanders at the conference singled out Australia as the largest regional donor and emitter.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia would ramp up its gas extraction and use until 2050 and beyond, despite calls to phase out fossil fuels.

Big polluters have a key responsibility, Mr Guterres said, when asked by the BBC what message he had for regional emitters like Australia.

Without it, the world will exceed the 1.5°C threshold set in the Paris Agreement in 2015. This agreement aims to limit global warming to “well below” 2°C by the end of the century and to “pursue efforts” to keep warming within the safer limit of 1.5°C.

Only by limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will we have a chance of preventing the irreversible collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets and the catastrophes that accompany them, Mr. Guterres said.

This means reducing global emissions by 43% from 2019 levels by 2030, and by 60% by 2035.

Last year, however, global emissions increased by 1%.

“The G20, which represents 80% of emissions, has an obligation to come together to ensure emissions reductions now,” Guterres said.

He also singled out the G20 and companies that contribute to a large share of global emissions: “They clearly have a responsibility to reverse the current trend. It is time to say 'enough is enough'.”

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