Climate Change

Antonio Guterres attended a community roundtable event in Auckland Monday, as he kicked off his Pacific tour.

He departs for Fiji on Tuesday before heading to Tuvalu and Vanuatu to complete his regional tour.

Mr Guterres said the Pacific islands were the first victims of climate change.

"Not only some of them because of the rising level of water represents an existential threat, some might disappear, but also because of course climate change brings with it a lot of negative consequences," he said.

The talks in the city of Katowice have centred on a recent critical UN climate report which said urgent action was needed to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait blocked full endorsement of the report, only agreeing to note it.

Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu took the stage on Tuesday to single out the countries for not doing enough.

The broadcaster said it could lead to the collapse of civilisations and the extinction of "much of the natural world".

He was speaking at the opening ceremony of United Nations-sponsored climate talks in Katowice, Poland.

The meeting is the most critical on climate change since the 2015 Paris agreement.

Sir David said: "Right now, we are facing a man-made disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years. Climate change.

The 4th US National Climate Assessment, released at the weekend, is the federally sanctioned work of about 300 academics and experts on the threat posed by climate change.

The assessment devotes a chapter to the US Pacific.

Zena Grecni, is the Project Specialist for the Pacific Islands Regional Climate Assessment based at Honolulu's East-West Center.

She said in the four years since the last report, threats from climate change had increased substantially.

Speaking at the Virtual Climate Summit on Thursday, Ralph Regenvanu said Vanuatu had benefited the least from fossil fuels, but been ravaged as a result of their emissions.

Mr Regenvanu said he was putting the fossil fuel industry and the states that sponsor it on notice.

Vanuatu's prime minister Charlot Salwai, a longtime supporter of West Papuan self-determination, told the General Assembly in New York that decolonisation must remain on the UN agenda.

He said the Human Rights Council must investigate human rights abuses in the Indonesian provinces.

The Marshall Islands president, Hilda Heine, told the assembly's 73rd session that the Pacific Islands Forum supported "constructive engagement" with Indonesia on the issue.

While Tuvalu's prime minister Enele Sopoaga continued his call for recognition of the indigenous people.

Ms Ardern is pledging $300 million in climate-related assistance over four years, an increase of $100 million.

The prime minister made the announcement in New York where she is attending for the United Nations General Assembly this week along with about 140 other world leaders.

Action on climate change is high on her agenda.

In a speech to the Climate Week conference she said climate change posed a security threat to vulnerable nations including New Zealand's Pacific neighbours.

Ms Ardern said it challenged international legal frameworks.

The meeting discussed actions the private sector needs to take in the Pacific region to challenge climate change, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) and other relevant issues. 

The preparatory meeting is held annually ahead of the annual Pacific Islands Forum Leaders meeting, where Pacific Island leaders consider the recommendations from the preparatory meeting. This year, the Pacific Island Forum Leaders meeting will be held in Nauru on September 4.

Addressing Pacific leaders at the Climate Action Pacific Partnership Conference talanoa session at the Great Council of Chiefs Complex in Fiji’s capital, Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations executive director Emele Duituturaga said leaders and stakeholders need to stand united against the world’s big carbon emitters.

 “We need to agree on key messages; identify our respective target audiences and develop inside/outside strategies,” she said.

And the coalition should not only include Pacific island governments but civil societies and the private sector.

Commending island leaders for their efforts on the issue, Pacific Islands Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (PIANGO) executive director Emele Duituturaga told the conference in Funafuti, Tuvalu, that it affects everyone in the Pacific and required a concerted effort by all.