Fiji is a stark reminder to the world of the new and frightening era that is dawning on us because of climate change.
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has made this comment while speaking at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, Turkey.
Bainimarama says in common with other small and vulnerable states the world over, Fiji urgently needs to gain access to the funding in the form of grants or loans to build our resilience to withstand this threat.
He says funding is needed to strengthen homes and infrastructure, and to strengthen our response to disaster wherever and whenever it strikes.
Bainimarama says three months ago, the biggest cyclone ever to make landfall in the southern hemisphere slammed into Fiji with winds of more than 300‑kilometres an hour.
Cyclone Winston killed 44 Fijians and ravaged 40,000 homes, public buildings and infrastructure – leaving us with a damage bill of US$1.4 billion.
The Prime Minister says stronger and more frequent cyclonic winds, more floods, more droughts are expected in the future.
He says ever‑rising seas are already swamping arable coastal land and are destined to swallow up three Pacific nations Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.
Bainimarama says Fiji and the other members of the Pacific Islands Development Forum want the present cap on global warming agreed to in Paris, 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial age lowered to 1.5 degrees.
He also made an appeal to the industrialised nations on behalf of every Pacific Islander to provide the vulnerable countries with the financial means to adapt and survive.
Bainimarama says by far our most important priority relates to the biggest humanitarian crisis we have ever faced in the Pacific – the escalating threat to our physical safety and way of life posed by the extreme weather events and rising sea levels caused by climate change.
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