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Pacific Nations Push to Keep the 1.5-Degree Target Alive
Pacific leaders and climate officials met in Fiji before a larger climate summit.
They want countries to cut emissions much faster.
They say keeping warming close to 1.5 degrees Celsius would help limit harm from rising seas and extreme weather.
Pacific communities are already seeing effects such as flooding, damaged reefs and villages being moved.
Leaders from the region adopted a declaration calling for deep and lasting emissions cuts.
They also want better access to climate funding and stronger protection for oceans.
A United Nations official said the world is likely to go past the 1.5-degree limit.
The official warned that staying above it for longer would cause more sea-level rise over time.
Pacific representatives at pre-COP ministerial talks in Fiji urged stronger emissions cuts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Fijian climate minister Lynda Tabuya said the target remains a legal obligation despite projections that it will be exceeded.
Pacific leaders adopted the Taku Pakasoa declaration, calling for deep, rapid and sustained emissions reductions.
Delegates identified climate finance access and ocean protection among Pacific priorities for global climate negotiations.
A UN Environment Programme official said overshoot was unavoidable and warned that time above 1.5 degrees would add to long-term sea-level rise.
- Who
- Pacific nations, climate delegates from more than 50 countries, and officials including Fiji climate minister Lynda Tabuya.
- What
- Delegates discussed climate priorities, including emissions cuts to uphold the 1.5-degree target, climate finance and ocean protection.
- Where
- Nadi, Fiji, following a visit by Pacific leaders to Tuvalu.
- When
- The ministerial meeting began on Wednesday, October 7; Pacific leaders adopted a declaration on Tuesday. The year is not stated.
- Why
- Pacific nations seek to reduce climate impacts, including rising seas and extreme weather, and to protect vulnerable communities.
Keep 1.5 Degrees Alive
Overshoot Is Expected
Whether the 1.5-degree target can still be upheld
Keep 1.5 Degrees Alive
Fijian climate minister Lynda Tabuya said keeping 1.5 degrees alive is a primary legal obligation and called for greater emissions-reduction efforts.
Overshoot Is Expected
UN Environment Programme official Dechen Tsering said exceeding 1.5 degrees and significant environmental damage were now unavoidable, while warning that impacts would worsen the longer temperatures remained above the target.
Key facts
- Meeting
- Pre-COP ministerial negotiations in Fiji
- Participants
- Representatives from more than 50 countries
- Temperature goal
- Limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels
- Declaration
- Taku Pakasoa, adopted by a group of mostly Pacific Island leaders
- Declaration call
- Deep, rapid and sustained emissions reductions
- COP31
- Scheduled to take place in Turkey in November
- Sea-level projection
- The UN Environment Programme official cited around 40 centimetres of additional median sea-level rise by 2300 for each additional 100 years above 1.5 degrees, compared with a pathway without overshoot.
Quotes
Lynda Tabuya
Fijian climate minister
“Overshoot (of the 1.5-degree target) is not a verdict we accept quietly … keeping 1.5 alive is the primary legal obligation and duty we are here to uphold.”
theprint.in
“We are hurtling past the 1.5-degree temperature limit.”
theprint.in
Murat Kurum
Turkey’s environment minister and president of COP31
“I believe in this wholeheartedly.”
theprint.in
Sources
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