Climate Change Resilience
1 December, 2015, Paris, France, COP21 - The message was loud and clear from the Pacific islands at the "We the Pacific" dialogue forum in Paris at the UN Climate talks today. The Pacific islands are counting upon the rest of the world to ensure their survival and limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

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The event coordinated by the Pacific Island Development Forum and the Pacific Island Climate Action Network brought together the President of Kiribati, Anote Tong; Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Enele Sopoaga, the Secretary General of PIDF Francois Martel, the Minister of National Disaster Management of Fiji, Inia Seruiratu and Talissa Koteka representing the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands.

It was to a packed room at the AOSIS (Alliance of Small Islands States) Pavilion that the high level panel shared their message – asks that are clearly spelled out in the Suva Declaration stemming from the Third Pacific Island Development Forum held in September this year.

"I know there is a debate of whether it should be 1.5 or 2 degrees but for those of us who have a great deal to lose are calling for global warming to be reduce to below 1.5 degrees," said President Tong at today's event.

"There are some aspects of the climate change negotiations that are simply not negotiable. I need to go back and tell my people that I have a solution to your problems, you will no longer lose your homes."

This was reinforced by Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga a former diplomat and negotiator for the small island nation on climate change, who said, "The current 2 degrees target is to save the economies of rich nations and is less ambitious. The Pacific cannot accept that."

Fiji, home to the PIDF Secretariat and host of the third PIDF conference resulting in the Suva Declaration has had to relocate 40 communities and have identified another 800 that need to be relocated in the near future due to the impacts of climate change, as shared by Minister Inia Seruiratu at the dialogue event today.

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"Climate change is not something that we expect down the track, it's already happening and therefore for us to come here to Paris we are fighting for our basic human right to life."

Talissa Koteka representing the Cook Islands Prime Minister at the event reminded all that the emissions of the Pacific islands are negligible – while they have not caused the climate change problems experienced they are the victims of its effects.

"I believe that we can and are taking a leadership role in coming up with solution, however, these solutions will not amount to the total sum of contributing to the good of our world, if the collective will of the world is lacking."

"We the Pacific" dialogue forum was hosted on Day 2 of the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the AOSIS Pavilion in Paris, France. It was coordinated by the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network in partnership with the Pacific Island Development Forum, supported by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). - #4PacIslands