Pacific leaders have called on Australia to abandon plans to use carry-over credits to meet Paris climate targets and to immediately stop new coal mining, warning that some of their countries could be uninhabitable by as early as 2030.
In a strongly worded statement issued at the end of the annual Pacific Island Development Forum in Fiji, the leaders said that they were deeply concerned about a lack of “comprehension, ambition or commitment” from developed nations, despite the climate crisis posing grave consequences for their people.
They called for greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced immediately, pointing to “stark warnings” in a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change setting out what would need to be done to limit a global temperature increase to 1.5°C.
“The science warns of the real possibility that coral atoll nations could become uninhabitable as early as 2030,” the statement, called the Nadi Bay Declaration, said.
“By 2100, the coral atoll nations of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Tokelau and the Maldives and many [small island developing states] could be submerged,” it added.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne last week rejected calls from Pacific states for Australia to do more to combat climate change, telling the Australian Broadcasting Corp that they “should be pleased” that it was meeting the target that it set at the 2015 Paris meeting.
Most climate experts have said that Australia is not expected to meet its 2030 emissions target — a 26 to 28 percent cut below 2005 levels — under current policies and that the country would need to make much deeper cuts than proposed to play its part under the Paris agreement.
Since the Liberal-National Coalition repealed a national carbon price scheme, Australia’s emissions have risen year-on-year.
In a clear reference to Australia, the statement called on the countries to refrain from using carry-over credits from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to meet targets under the Paris agreement.
Almost all other developed countries have said they would not use carry-over credits, which Australia has access to after over-achieving compared with its Kyoto agreement target of a 5 percent cut below 2000 levels.
Analysts have said that using these credits effectively reduces Australia’s Paris commitment by about 8 percentage points.
The statement signed by nine leaders also called on coal producers “to immediately cease any new mining of coal and develop a strategy for a decadal phaseout and closure of all existing coal production.”
It urged developed countries to take immediate steps to stop subsidies to fossil fuels, and to support climate finance and technology transfer for vulnerable nations.
The climate emergency “poses the single greatest threat to the human rights and security of present and future generations of Pacific Island peoples,” it said.
Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama called on all developed countries — but especially what he called “our larger neighbors in the Pacific” — to hear the call ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum in Tuvalu in two weeks and make their Paris commitments more ambitious.
“We cannot allow climate commitments to be watered down in the meeting hosted by the nation whose very existence is threatened by the rising waters lapping at its shores,” he said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source