“Rising seas are already reaching our homes, roads and farms. For Fiji, this is not a future threat. It is happening now,”Minister for Information, Environment and Climate Change Hon. Lynda Tabuya said following the adoption of the UN Declaration on Sea Level Rise in New York today.
The declaration was agreed by all UN Member States. It calls for stronger action to help countries facing rising seas and to protect their people and their future, as well as recognizing the permanence of EEZs regardless of loss of land from sea level rise.
Minister Tabuya attended the meeting alongside Minister for Foreign Affairs and External Trade Hon. Sakiasi Ditoka, who delivered Fiji’s statement.
“Pacific countries contribute less than one percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet our communities are on the front line,” Mr Ditoka said.
“We will keep working with other nations to protect our people, our rights and our sovereignty.”