FIJI Spearheads World Fight Against Climate Change

‘There is no doubt that climate change poses the greatest threat to humanity in the entire sweep of human history. And we owe it to ourselves and to future generations to confront this challenge head on as a matter of extreme urgency.’

- Bruce Laybourn

Fiji’s assuming the presidency of the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference in November, 2016 provides the island nation the opportunity to highlight to the world the growing threat of extreme weather events, rising seas and changes to agriculture.

“We certainly place great importance on highlighting the impacts of climate change on all vulnerable nations, and especially those of us in the Pacific, where in some instances, we face a threat to our very existence,” said Fiji Prime Minister, Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama in an interview with Corporate Traveller.

He hopes for a “change of heart” by United States’ president, Donald Trump, who initiated an American withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the international accord intended to combat greenhouse gas emissions.

“Unless we tackle the root cause of these events - global warming - we all face an unpredictable and terrifying future, not only in the vulnerable nations but in every part of the world.”

Fiji became president at the expiry of Morocco’s term in November and hands the baton to Poland at the end of it's term in November, 2018.

“Fiji is the first Pacific small island developing state to be given the task of presiding over the on-going UN climate negotiations and the implementation of the Paris Agreement of 2015. It is a great honour and a great responsibility and I am taking my role as president extremely seriously.

"It is critical for all 7.5 billion people on earth that we address the root cause of the rising seas, extreme weather events and changes to agriculture caused by climate change."

The Paris Agreement obliges the global community to keep the average global temperature well below two degrees over that of the industrial age and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees.