Combat climate change by taxing carbon instead of salaries, UN chief urges
5 years, 10 months ago

Combat climate change by taxing carbon instead of salaries, UN chief urges

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Governments around the world should tax carbon emissions instead of people’s salaries to limit the damage caused by climate change, the UN secretary-general has said. Plans for new coal plants must be scrapped and the closure of existing fossil-fuel facilities accelerated if global warming is to halted, Antonio Guterres said on his first visit to the Pacific region “on the frontline” of the climate emergency. He told the Pacific Islands Forum, comprised of officials from 18 nations and territories, he was “here to see the region’s climate pressures first-hand and to learn about the work being undertaken by communities here”. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events “All countries, with no caveats, must agree to take decisive and transformative action to reduce global emissions, and ensure at scale mitigation and adaption support for those countries that need it,” said a statement from the Pacific Islands Forum.

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History of this topic

ICJ weighs legal responsibility for climate change, ‘future of our planet’
3 months, 1 week ago

ICJ weighs legal responsibility for climate change, ‘future of our planet’

Al Jazeera  

The International Court of Justice’s 15 judges will consider arguments made by more than 100 countries in a case led by Vanuatu and other Pacific island nations. “It is with a profound sense of urgency and responsibility that I stand before you today,” Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu’s special envoy for climate change and environment, said as he opened the hearings on …

A landmark climate change case will open at the top UN court as island nations fear rising seas
3 months, 3 weeks ago

A landmark climate change case will open at the top UN court as island nations fear rising seas

Associated Press  

THE HAGUE — The top United Nations court will take up the largest case in its history on Monday, when it opens two weeks of hearings into what countries worldwide are legally required to do to combat climate change and help vulnerable nations fight its devastating impact. After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could simply disappear …

Citizenship sales, land creation and legal battles: How small islands are confronting existential climate threat
4 months ago

Citizenship sales, land creation and legal battles: How small islands are confronting existential climate threat

BBC  

Citizenship sales, land creation and legal battles: How small islands are confronting existential climate threat Getty Images The Pacific Island of Tuvalu is grappling with the reality that much of its land mass may no longer lie above sea level by mid-century From erecting seawalls to selling citizenship, vulnerable small islands are taking sometimes drastic measures to protect themselves from …

Climate discussions near conclusion at COP29
4 months ago

Climate discussions near conclusion at COP29

ABC  

As the UN Climate Change Conference enters its final three days, there's uncertainty as to whether developed nations will agree to a trillion dollar climate financing agreement demanded by small island states. Suva born Neharika Gambhir has become the first Fijian to become an analog astronaut – a stepping stone towards getting into space. In Vanuatu, Biosecurity officials say they've …

Commonwealth Nations to Discuss Slavery Reparations and Climate Change at Summit in Samoa
5 months ago

Commonwealth Nations to Discuss Slavery Reparations and Climate Change at Summit in Samoa

Hindustan Times  

Commonwealth nations will discuss slavery reparations and climate change at a summit in Samoa. The meeting will focus on the legacy of British slavery and the need for reparations for descendants of enslaved people. Climate change is another major topic of discussion, with island leaders calling for a commitment to the Paris Accord's warming goal of 1.5 degrees C. The …

Climate-threatened Pacific Islands criticize Australia at Commonwealth meeting
5 months ago

Climate-threatened Pacific Islands criticize Australia at Commonwealth meeting

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Several Pacific island nations singled …

Australia offers to help Tuvalu residents escape rising seas and other ravages of climate change
1 year, 4 months ago

Australia offers to help Tuvalu residents escape rising seas and other ravages of climate change

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Australia on Friday offered the …

Pacific Island nations seek climate change ruling for polluters at international Oceans Court
1 year, 6 months ago

Pacific Island nations seek climate change ruling for polluters at international Oceans Court

ABC  

When Naima Te Maile Fifita stood before an international court to make a plea for help in the face of climate change, she evoked images of motherhood and connection. Key points: Small island countries are asking the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea for a landmark ruling Pacific leaders say their homes will become uninhabitable, if not fully …

UN agrees on role for Int’l Court of Justice in climate change
1 year, 11 months ago

UN agrees on role for Int’l Court of Justice in climate change

Al Jazeera  

Pacific island state Vanuatu – one of the world’s most vulnerable to climate change – has led the UN initiative to deliver climate justice with a legal basis. “For us, an unprecedented weather event, consistent with what science tells us is a result of climate change,” Vanuatu’s Minister of Climate Change Adaptation Ralph Regenvanu said last week at a press …

PHOTO ESSAY | Sea change: Why India needs lessons from Maldives to tackle climate crisis
2 years, 2 months ago

PHOTO ESSAY | Sea change: Why India needs lessons from Maldives to tackle climate crisis

The Hindu  

Published : Jan 12, 2023 10:15 IST One of the key outcomes of the United Nations Climate Change Conference held in November 2022 was a landmark decision to establish and operationalise a loss and damage fund for vulnerable nations that face the brunt of natural disasters and loss of livelihoods as a result of global warming. According to Koldewey: “Coral …

Treaty against fossil fuels floated at UN climate summit
2 years, 4 months ago

Treaty against fossil fuels floated at UN climate summit

Associated Press  

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — The world should confront climate change the way it does nuclear weapons, by agreeing to a non-proliferation treaty that stops further production of fossil fuels, a small island nation leader urged Tuesday. “We all know that the leading cause of climate crisis is fossil fuels,” Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano told his fellow leaders. For the …

Australia climate change inaction violated islanders’ rights: UN
2 years, 6 months ago

Australia climate change inaction violated islanders’ rights: UN

Al Jazeera  

UN ruling creates ‘a pathway’ to allow climate victims to force national governments to address their plight. Australia violated the human rights of a group of islanders off its north coast by failing to adequately protect them from the effects of climate change, a United Nations committee has found. “This decision marks a significant development as the committee has created …

Drowning island nations: ‘This is how a Pacific atoll dies’
2 years, 6 months ago

Drowning island nations: ‘This is how a Pacific atoll dies’

Associated Press  

While world leaders from wealthy countries acknowledge the “existential threat” of climate change, Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano is racing to save his tiny island nation from drowning by raising it 13 to 16 feet above sea level through land reclamation. Together they launched the Rising Nations Initiative, a global partnership aimed to preserve the sovereignty, heritage and rights of …

Climate change a greater threat to security than war, says Fiji
2 years, 9 months ago

Climate change a greater threat to security than war, says Fiji

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Climate change poses a greater threat to the security of the Asia-Pacific region than conflict, …

‘We are in danger now’: Vanuatu declares climate emergency
2 years, 9 months ago

‘We are in danger now’: Vanuatu declares climate emergency

Al Jazeera  

Prime Minister Bob Loughman says using the term ’emergency’ is a way of signalling the need for ‘responsible nations to match action to the size and urgency of the crisis’. Vanuatu’s parliament has declared a climate emergency with the low-lying island nation’s prime minister flagging a $1.2bn cost to cushion global warming’s impacts on his tiny Pacific country. “The use …

What the latest IPCC climate report has to say
2 years, 11 months ago

What the latest IPCC climate report has to say

Live Mint  

The fossil fuel age is effectively over. This is the message of the third major climate report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the UN’s apex climate science body. The report, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation Of Climate Change, was released on 4 April, hard on the heels of two earlier reports: one in August last year that conclusively proved …

Tuvalu minister gives Cop26 speech knee-deep in sea to highlight climate crisis
3 years, 4 months ago

Tuvalu minister gives Cop26 speech knee-deep in sea to highlight climate crisis

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Tuvalu foreign minister Simon Kofe has delivered a speech to Cop26 while standing knee-deep in …

Cop26: UK pledges £290 million to help countries prepare for climate change
3 years, 4 months ago

Cop26: UK pledges £290 million to help countries prepare for climate change

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The government is pledging new funding totalling £290 million, largely to help countries across Asia …

‘Climate change is battle of my life’ and we’re losing, warns UN chief Antonio Guterres
4 years, 3 months ago

‘Climate change is battle of my life’ and we’re losing, warns UN chief Antonio Guterres

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The UN secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, …

‘We made the ocean our home’: The islands fighting climate change
4 years, 6 months ago

‘We made the ocean our home’: The islands fighting climate change

Al Jazeera  

How a culture and history of resilience is inspiring Pacific islanders in their fight against cyclones and rising seas. Pacific rebuilding Meanwhile, a salutary tale comes from the most unlikely of places – a nation in the teeth of the worst effects of climate change, the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean, where cyclones and rising seas ravage ever-decreasing habitable …

‘Running out of time’: Experts warn against rising sea levels
5 years, 6 months ago

‘Running out of time’: Experts warn against rising sea levels

Al Jazeera  

Call for more aggressive action and funding for small islands, coastal cities in Asia-Pacific as sea levels rise. Earlier, Ovais Sarmad, the UN Climate Change deputy executive secretary, described the impacts of climate change around the world as “devastating” and said that “there is urgency” in addressing them. “As much as possible, we must try to adapt and mitigate in …

Australian coal use an ‘existential threat’ to islands: Fiji PM
5 years, 7 months ago

Australian coal use an ‘existential threat’ to islands: Fiji PM

Al Jazeera  

Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama challenges Canberra to quickly transition from coal to other safer energy sources. Fiji has challenged Australia to do more on climate change in the run-up to a regional summit of Pacific nations this week, warning Canberra’s reliance on coal posed an “existential threat” to low-lying islands. Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said on Monday that Australia should …

Fiji leader slams Liberal MP John Alexander's climate change advice
5 years, 10 months ago

Fiji leader slams Liberal MP John Alexander's climate change advice

ABC  

Fiji's Prime Minister has hit back at a Liberal MP who suggested Pacific Islanders should move to higher ground to avoid the impacts of climate change. Key points: Frank Bainimarama said John Alexander's advice would be "useless" for low-lying nations He said Australia had a moral responsibility to fight climate change He also lashed out at Kevin Rudd's "insensitive" climate …

Tuvalu PM slams Kevin Rudd's proposal to offer Australian citizenship for Pacific resources as neo-colonialism
6 years, 1 month ago

Tuvalu PM slams Kevin Rudd's proposal to offer Australian citizenship for Pacific resources as neo-colonialism

ABC  

A proposal from Kevin Rudd to address the impacts of climate change on the Pacific has been labelled as "imperial thinking" by Tuvalu's leader, who lambasted the former prime minister's suggestion to swap Australian citizenship for maritime resources. Key points: Kevin Rudd's proposed arrangement would require the Pacific countries to give up their sovereignty It would also require a rewriting …

'Please do not kill us': COP24 climate talks 'failing' and threatening survival of Maldives, leader warns
6 years, 3 months ago

'Please do not kill us': COP24 climate talks 'failing' and threatening survival of Maldives, leader warns

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The failure of climate talks to produce meaningful results is threatening the very survival of …

Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga says Australia's climate change inaction undermines its 'Pacific pivot'
6 years, 3 months ago

Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga says Australia's climate change inaction undermines its 'Pacific pivot'

ABC  

Prime Minister of Tuvalu Enele Sopoaga has warned Australia that its "Pacific pivot" risks being fatally undermined by its climate change policies ahead of crucial talks in Poland. Key points: Tuvalu's PM made the comments ahead of COP24, the most important climate talks since the Paris agreement He says Australia's return to the Pacific undermined by climate change inaction Tuvalu …

As Trump questions global warming, UN says: US gov’t won’t
6 years, 4 months ago

As Trump questions global warming, UN says: US gov’t won’t

Associated Press  

GENEVA — A top U.N. scientist on Thursday shrugged off an online quip from U.S. President Donald Trump that questioned global warming, saying a U.S. government report will show the “fundamental impacts of climate change on the U.S. continent.” Officials at the World Meteorological Organization also said environmentally minded efforts by the state of California, in parts of the financial …

Small islands use big platform to warn of climate change
6 years, 5 months ago

Small islands use big platform to warn of climate change

Associated Press  

UNITED NATIONS — On the map, their homes are tiny specks in a vast sea of blue, rarely in the headlines and far removed from the centers of power. Speaking shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump — whose fiery speech made no mention of climate change — Danny Faure told the U.N. General Assembly this week that for his country, …

Rising sea levels could make thousands of islands from the Maldives to Hawaii 'uninhabitable within decades'
6 years, 11 months ago

Rising sea levels could make thousands of islands from the Maldives to Hawaii 'uninhabitable within decades'

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The scientists used current global greenhouse gas emission rates to predict future impacts of the changing climate on Roi-Namur, …

In Fiji, villages need to move due to climate change
7 years, 1 month ago

In Fiji, villages need to move due to climate change

Al Jazeera  

As Cyclone Gita leaves Tonga battered, neighbouring Fiji has started moving some of its villages to higher ground. Any time you have to move your home – and this is not a choice that’s in their hands – it’s a terrible challenge.” Cultural significance Marica Bulimaitoga sits on the doorstep of her small house, a stilted shack made with corrugated …

Climate change: Five Islands in the South Pacific 'completely lost to rising seas'
8 years, 10 months ago

Climate change: Five Islands in the South Pacific 'completely lost to rising seas'

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Rising sea levels and erosion …

Pacific Island Tuvalu calls for 1.5 degrees global warming limit or faces 'total demise'
9 years, 3 months ago

Pacific Island Tuvalu calls for 1.5 degrees global warming limit or faces 'total demise'

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy At just 4.5 metres above …

Climate change: David Cameron urges vulnerable small island states to join deal to tackle global warming
9 years, 3 months ago

Climate change: David Cameron urges vulnerable small island states to join deal to tackle global warming

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy David Cameron has urged "small island states" that are vulnerable to climate change to get …

Preparing for the climate exiles
9 years, 6 months ago

Preparing for the climate exiles

The Hindu  

Although firm numbers are not available, reports suggest that more than 4,00,000 people have arrived at the European Union border so far this year, driven by wars and conflicts in places such as Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea. Disasters such as intense storms and heat waves and slow moving changes like droughts and sea level rise are expected to exacerbate living …

Pacific leaders call for coal mining to be shut down to save island nations from effects of climate change
9 years, 6 months ago

Pacific leaders call for coal mining to be shut down to save island nations from effects of climate change

ABC  

The leaders of some of the world's smallest nations have called for coal mining — one of Australia's biggest industries — to be shut down, in a bid to save their countries from the effects of climate change. The Alliance of Small Island States, which includes Pacific Ocean countries like Tuvalu and Palau, said global warming was already harming their …

Too late: Pacific Island leaders warn climate change fallout leaves island nations struggling ahead of Paris talks
9 years, 7 months ago

Too late: Pacific Island leaders warn climate change fallout leaves island nations struggling ahead of Paris talks

ABC  

Two of the world's most vulnerable low-lying island nations, Kiribati and Tuvalu, say failure at upcoming climate talks in Paris is not an option, as rising sea levels threaten their very existence. Key points: Kiribati and Tuvalu say upcoming climate talks must not fail Scientists say the nations could disappear in the coming decades Kiribati has considered relocating its population …

"Will we survive or will we disappear under the sea?": Island nations make desperate plea for climate action
10 years, 3 months ago

"Will we survive or will we disappear under the sea?": Island nations make desperate plea for climate action

Salon  

In the United States, we have the temporary privilege of being able to ignore the rapidly changing climate. The same cannot be said for island nations like Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and the Maldives, whose very existence is imperiled by the warming world. "At less than 1 degree of warming we are seeing consequences far worse than what scientists forecast …

Raise your voice, not the sea level: UN chief on climate change
10 years, 9 months ago

Raise your voice, not the sea level: UN chief on climate change

Firstpost  

The 12-day Bonn talks, which began on Wednesday, seek to overcome some of the many obstacles towards a post-2020 pact to roll back heat-trapping fossil-fuel gases. Bonn: The United Nations seized World Environment Day to demand action on climate change to protect small island states threatened by rising seas, drought and floods. “Greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise, with the …

UN report warns of climate change risks and calls on the world to prepare
10 years, 11 months ago

UN report warns of climate change risks and calls on the world to prepare

ABC  

Soaring carbon emissions will amplify the risk of conflict, hunger, flood and migration this century, a United Nations' expert panel has said. "Part of the reason adaptation is so important is that the world faces a host of risks from climate change already baked into the climate system, due to past emissions and existing infrastructure." At a separate meeting on …

Kiribati minister says Pacific nations pushed aside in race for UN funds
11 years ago

Kiribati minister says Pacific nations pushed aside in race for UN funds

ABC  

Tiny Pacific island nations, among those hardest hit by climate change, are being outmuscled by larger states in the race to get funds from the United Nations earmarked for climate change adaptation. The low-lying South Pacific island nation of Kiribati has an average height of 2 metres above sea level, making it one of the countries most vulnerable to rising …

Coral islands bigger despite ocean's rise
14 years, 9 months ago

Coral islands bigger despite ocean's rise

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Some South Pacific coral atolls have held their own or even grown in size over …

Climate: rich and poor must work together
15 years, 4 months ago

Climate: rich and poor must work together

The Hindu  

Be in no doubt. Copenhagen must secure a deal that sees rich countries shouldering their fair share of the burden of controlling climate change. This means tough targets on their own emissions but also an agreement on funding to help developing countries pursue green growth and cope with the impacts of climate change. A fair deal at Copenhagen also means …

Climate change a danger to our survival, says Maldives President
15 years, 4 months ago

Climate change a danger to our survival, says Maldives President

The Hindu  

Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed on Monday lamented what he termed as the lack of progress being made in international climate change negotiations and called on poor, vulnerable countries to show “moral leadership” by shifting from fossil fuel to renewable energy. Since assumption of office Mr. Nasheed has been marketing the nation of 1, 200 coral islands as a frontline state …

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