‘We Will Succeed’
PM: Climate change as great a threat to global security as any conflict
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says Fiji is determined to make a successful contribution to the wider security of the planet through our leadership of COP23. Mr Bainimarama made the remarks in a powerful message on climate change to the United Nations General Assembly in New York yesterday. Mr Bainimarama said: “There is no escaping the fact that climate change is as great a threat to global security as any source of conflict.” He said for 40 years, “we have helped to make the world more secure” through UN peacekeeping missions. He said we, as a small nation, had suffered a great deal of pain from the loss of some of our finest troops.
He said now we are determined to succeed on COP23.
Mr Bainimarama said millions of people were already on the move because of drought and the changes to agriculture threatening their food security.
“Throughout history, we know that
human beings will fight over access to water. And unless we tackle the underlying causes of climate change, we already know that some places will become unliveable and others will disappear altogether.
“In my own region, three of our neighbours are at risk, which is why Fiji has offered to give refuge to the people of Kiribati and Tuvalu in a worst case in which their homes sink beneath the waves altogether.
“For the Fijian people, climate change is real. It affects our lives altogether. Whether it is the whole villages we are moving out of the way of the rising seas; the loss of our ancestral burial grounds; the salinity affecting our crops; or the constant threat of destruction to homes and infrastructure of the kind we experienced last year. “The reason our hearts go out to the people of the Caribbean right now is not only because we can empathise with them but because we fear the same fate. And I say to the nations of the world: Imagine another third of your GDP destroyed within a year or so. Imagine another cyclone scoring a direct hit and wiping out decades of development.
“It is clear, Mr President, that global warming changes our very understanding of what our national interests are. It challenges us to understand that the only way for every nation to put itself first is to lock arms with all other nations and go forward together. Anything else is self-destructive—for the world and for each nation. It may be tempting for political leaders to show that they are protecting some national industry or near-term economic goal, but at what cost? The wise leader must work hard to convince the people to embrace the path we know we must take.
“There is no choice to be made between prosperity and a healthy climate. For how prosperous can we be if we must devote our resources to relocating entire populations or reinforcing major cities? What does it cost to find new places to farm? And what about the consequences for global and regional security if nations begin to compete for safe land or have conflicts over the movements of climate refugees? It is obvious that we need to cooperate. “We need to learn from each other and to use the world’s considerable resources to do the most good for the most people. We need to continue to create prosperity and to ensure the well-being of the nations and ecosystems of the world.
“If we view this as some sort of negotiation in which each country tries to preserve its narrow national interests, we will all lose. We will be powerless to protect our own people from the consequences of climate change. Collective action is the only way forward. Wise men and women will understand that.
“Mr President, that is why I took on the role of COP President, why I eagerly embrace becoming the first Pacific Islander to do so. Because it is about ensuring that my own people flourish and prosper now and into the future. And by collaborating with the other nations of the world through this process, we ensure that together, humanity can flourish and prosper.
“Mr President, I also want to pay tribute to your predecessor, Peter Thomson – the first Fijian to occupy the presidency of the General Assembly. Ambassador Thomson carried out his role with great distinction. And I especially want to thank him for the role he has played in bringing the parlous state of our oceans to global attention.”