CANBERRA (CU)_With just a few more weeks left until world leaders come together to launch a joint plan to address the intensifying climate crisis at COP26 in Glasgow, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are calling on the most developed economies to expand their contributions in assisting the most vulnerable nations to tackle this global crisis and adapt to extreme weather conditions which have begun to threaten their very existence.
These countries who are on the front lines of climate change includes Samoa, which has been experiencing hotter days and longer dry spells, damaging winds and rising sea levels. This week, the Prime Minister of the island nation Fiame Naomi Mata’afa participated in a webinar hosted by think-tank the Australia Institute, during which she declared the upcoming climate summit “could be the point of no return” in global efforts to marinating global warming at 1.5°C.
Noting that the recent pledges made by a host of countries to minimise their greenhouse gas emissions was welcome, the Samoan PM noted that the emissions gap remains “worrisome” putting us on a “catastrophic pathway” of about 2°C of global heating. “All major emitters need to urgently commit to strong climate action,” PM Fiame said. “We need to push for cutting emissions in half by 2030 to help reach carbon neutrality by mid-century.”
She went on to call on neighbouring Australia to…
