12-YEAR WINDOW FOR THE PACIFIC
Pacific Island Countries only have a 12-year window for action to cap global warming at a 1.5 degree increase, because anything higher than that will be catastrophic for the region.
And it is with this urgent deadline in mind that Oxfam in the Pacific will be working to get their climate change concerns before delegates to the Asian Development Bank in Nadi.
“It will be a hugely symbolic moment for the climate vulnerable regions all over and the Pacific, in particular providing an opportunity for these leaders to hear directly from the worst affected about addressing our climate change realities,” says Oxfam in the Pacific Regional Director, Raijeli Nicole.
Nicole says climate change topics cannot be siloed any more in a small room, “this is no longer an option for us here in the Pacific.”
Oxfam will focus on accelerating energy transition, closing the adaptation finance gap, organically growing the domestic finance sector, building the capacity of governments to effectively implement policies, prioritising the social accountability of climate finance and creating meaningful participation for communities at the ABD.
The 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCCC) last year stated that we only have 12 years to cap global warming.
Oxfam in Pacific’s Dr Jale Samuwai said even this would be catastrophic for the people in the Pacific.
“Having the temperature at 1.5 degrees could potentially destroy 70 per cent of the reefs in the Pacific,” Dr Samuwai said, affecting livelihoods, destroying food sources, and depleting marine organisms and natural rare wildlife.
The ADB meeting begins in Nadi on Wednesday, with an estimated 5000 people descending on Nadi for the meeting or associated events.
