Bainimarama appeals to leaders attending COP24 meeting to tackle climate change crisis head on

COP23 President and Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has appealed to leaders attending the COP24 meeting to heed science and summon the political will to tackle the climate change crisis head on.

While speaking at the High Level Segment for the COP24 meeting, Bainimarama said that time is running out and leaders must move quickly to have any hope of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre‑industrial age.

He stressed that the recent Emissions Gap Report released by the United Nations Environment Programme says that we need to increase our current commitments fivefold to achieve this target. Five times more ambition. Five times more action.

Bainimarama says that he supported the Polish theme of a “Just Transition” adding that they should not only have a just transition for those workers, regions and economies affected by the move from dirty energy to clean energy, they must have a just transition for all.

Former Governor of California and Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger also met with Bainimarama.

During the meeting, Schwarzenegger commended the Prime Minister for the talanoa dialogue and for his leadership during his term as COP23 President.

Bainimarama said that Fiji will continue to tackle the climate change crisis head on and also thanked Schwarzenegger for his assistance during Fiji’s term as COP23 presidency.

Fiji will next week co‑chair the Ministerial Talanoa dialogue with her Polish friends.

'In a world in which many forces are trying to undermine our ability to work together, the Talanoa Dialogue may be the greatest legacy of Fiji’s COP presidency'

These are the sentiments of COP 23 President Voreqe Bainimarama at the Talanoa Dialogue in London. #Fiji #FijiNews pic.twitter.com/mzj9624CHL

— Fijian Government (@FijianGovt) November 30, 2018