15 July 2022
Australia looks set to sign up for a joint statement from Pacific Islands Forum leaders that is expected to declare a "climate emergency" and calls for rapid and deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming.
The communique — endorsed by all Pacific leaders after their meeting in Suva — has not yet been published but is also set to back Vanuatu's push to secure a request from the United Nations to ask the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of climate change.
It praises the Albanese government's move to lift Australia's emissions reduction target but gives only a brief mention of its push to host a United Nations climate change conference with Pacific Island nations, with Pacific leaders welcoming the idea.
In a press conference after the forum, Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said he would "love to see a COP [UN climate conference] come to the Pacific" but added the negotiations were "defined far more by what they produce than … where they are held".
The Pacific Islands Forum has also released its 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, which strikes an urgent tone on climate change and repeatedly calls for accelerated and drastic action to reduce emissions.
Mr Bainimarama also earlier sent a clear message to Australia, saying on social media that he had urged Mr Albanese to introduce more ambitious targets consistent with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees.
"Throughout every meeting and discussion I've held this week, I have been clear and consistent in our asks for more ambitious climate commitments," he said after the leaders' meeting.
Source: ABC
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
