Sids refuse to be climate change victims

“How does that help us when we continue to ignore the truth? Climate change – on our current, avid path – is a crime against humanity. We are all guilty.  And we are all victims. But increasingly, Sids themselves, are refusing to be victims.”

President James Michel said this yesterday when he addressed the one-day climate change summit at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York.

Mr Michel was among leaders of some 120 nations who attended the summit which focused on ways to limit greenhouse-gas emissions.

“I have travelled twenty hours to be with you and been rewarded with four minutes to address you. It doesn’t matter. It is four minutes too many, I say! For now is not the time for speeches, but for action. 

We have heard it all before: the empty words, the promises and the exhortations…  We have also heard the complaints, the pleas for help from those on the front line: Small Island Developing States. 

“But how does that help us when we continue to ignore the truth? Climate change – on our current, avid path – is a crime against humanity.  We are all guilty.  And we are all victims. But increasingly, Sids themselves, are refusing to be victims,” said President Michel.

He added: “Speaking as the leader of a Small Island Developing State, I am proud to say that in the spirit of the ‘Samoa Pathway’ many islands are acting on climate change. Because it is crucial to our survival. Because we believe in the survival of humanity.  We want to take the lead. But we remain burdened by unsustainable debt levels. They challenge our ability to invest in building resilience against climate change.

“Seychelles is hoping to finalise innovative debt for adaptation swaps that allow us to create marine protected areas that build climate resilience, while receiving debt reduction. We also call for more ownership by islands and coastal states of our ‘Blue Economy’, strengthening our ability to build resilience and economic prosperity, and taking into consideration the vulnerability index. 
 
“What is the way forward to attain an agreement in Paris? 

-   We call for the Paris agreement to be a protocol under the UNFCC.

-    It must be an ambitious and legally binding agreement and applicable to all and must be adopted within the shortest possible timeframe.
 
-   We must agree ambitious targets on the basis of common but differentiated responsibility.

-    We call for the urgent operationalisation of the Warsaw International Mechanism for loss and damage and for a permanent seat on the Executive Committee of the Mechanism to be allocated to Sids. 

-    We must mobilise real adaption funding for all countries particularly taking into consideration the vulnerability of Sids.”

The President told the delegates including US President Barack Obama that recently a Seychellois child wrote to the secretary general of the United Nations and he described what was written as “a heartfelt plea, which resonates with us all islanders.”

 «We are small,» he wrote, «and to many we are insignificant … I am an islander and proud of it, for there is no other place I would wish to be my home … Our pleas are lost in all the noises made by the great of this world. While they count their profits, we are left unheard, forgotten …,» wrote the child of the ocean said President Michel.

“Ladies and gentlemen, in this year of climate action, let us not forget our children. Let them be heard. Let us act now, decisively, to safeguard their future. To safeguard our common future,” he concluded.

On his part, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, named the UN’s representative on climate change last week, urged world leaders to confront the challenge of global climate change. He told presidents and prime ministers: “You can make history … or be vilified by it.”

“This is not a partisan debate; it is a human one,” he added. “Clean air and water, and a livable climate are inalienable human rights. And solving this crisis is not a question of politics. It is our moral obligation – if, admittedly a daunting one.”

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon called the special summit, which has drawn over 125 heads of state, to accelerate global efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions ahead of formal climate talks in Paris in 2015.

Forrás: www.nation.sc