‘We have no time to waste’
Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama made the comment at the meeting of Climate Ministers in Montreal Canada and has appealed to them all to use their authority individually and as governments ‑ to put this at the very top of the global political agenda and to ensure that COP23 is the success it must be for the sake of all citizens of Planet Earth.
He says it is now an absolute imperative for the whole world to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above that of the industrial age adding what is currently the more ambitious target of the Paris Agreement must become the absolute benchmark and it must be achieved as quickly as possible.
Bainimarama says we must also find the collective will and the means to adapt to the extreme weather events, rising sea levels and changes to agriculture associated with climate change.
The Prime Minister believes there is now a general recognition of the need to build the resilience of vulnerable nations, provide them with better access to alternative energy sources, and affordable insurance to enable them to recover more speedily from climate related events.
He says as President of COP 23 he will be calling on the community of nations to work together in a spirit of friendship and cooperation to help meet the climate adaptation challenges of vulnerable nations, including in some cases, the threat to their very existence.
Bainimarama adds he is convinced that a holistic approach of limiting the global temperature to 1.5 degrees coupled with building resilience for the vulnerable ‑ is the only way to meet this challenge.
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