At a climate summit in Fiji, Albanese highlighted Tuvalu’s vulnerability and urged faster emissions cuts and stronger financial support for Pacific island states.
Anthony Albanese has warned Australia faces a hazardous summer, likely including floods, cyclones and extreme heat, due to the immediate threat of climate change and a rising “super El Niño”.
Speaking alongside national leaders at a climate summit in Fiji, the prime minister said the expected nasty summer and the demonstrated impact on Pacific island countries, including low-lying Tuvalu, showed the world could not afford to let the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C “just slip from our grasp”.
“Climate change is not a problem for the future. It is here right now, and we know that sea levels here in the western Pacific are rising at more than twice the global average. We know also that the forecast of super El Niño may test us all,” he said.
“In Australia, we are expecting a summer of floods, of cyclones, of extreme heat, and extreme behaviour… The science told us that if we didn’t act to address global emissions this is precisely what would occur, and tragically that is playing out.”
Albanese’s comments came after a delegation of national and global agency leaders visited Tuvalu to see the impact of the climate crisis on one of the countries most at risk. A collection of three reef islands and six atolls, Tuvalu is home to about 10,000 people and is mostly less than 2 metres above sea level.
The visit was promised by the Albanese government last year as part of a compromise deal when it missed out on hosting the Cop31 climate conference. Cop31 will be in Turkey next month; Fiji and Tuvalu are hosting a preparatory meeting.
Tuvalu was wet and grey for the visit, and the capital of Funafuti, spectacular from the air on a clear day, was visible only in strips between heavy rain clouds during descent.
After a cultural welcome and a tour of a climate resilience project, leaders held a “sautalaga” meeting, an exchange of views, where they expressed support for the country and urged more rapid action to cut emissions and provide island states with the money needed to adapt.
Prime minister tells delegates in Tuvalu and Fiji that ‘super El Niño’ brewing in the Pacific shows climate change is ‘here right now’
Source: THE GUARDIAN
