‘Pacific needs to be heard’

PACIFIC Island countries produce the least greenhouse gas emissions but in reality they are the ones suffering from the impact of climate change, said Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) director program Pacific Islands James Forbes.

As Fiji prepares for the UN Climate Action Summit 2019 in New York in the next few days, he said it was significant that it used this platform with other small island nations within the region to voice their concerns on the need to reduce the impact of climate change.

Also part of the engagement, Mr Forbes said they would be facilitating the regional Pacific Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) with other NGOs in presenting an effective tool and approach to the rest of the world during the summit.

The NDC was launched by Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama during the COP23 in 2017 to support Pacific Island countries review, enhance and implement their Nationally Determined Contributions. This is the core of the Paris Agreement that was adopted in 2015 by 195 countries.

He said it was also important that people in Fiji and the also the wider Pacific are informed of this international meeting.

“This a very important tool on how to address climate change and show the world what the Pacific Island States are capable of and to show the leadership, because this is a such a big region in fulfilling the Paris Agreement,” Mr Forbes said.