A Declaration made by six Pacific island-nations calling for a fossil-fuel free Pacific Ocean has secured the support of the Antigua and Barbuda Government, the co-chair of the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS).
Prime Minister Gaston Browne has issued a statement calling on CARICOM, SIDS countries to join in the fight against climate change which is already causing havoc among many SIDS nations.
The Declaration by the six nation states among other things, include the following;
“We, the Ministers and officials from the Kingdom of Tonga, the Republic of Fiji, Niue, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the Republic of Vanuatu, met for open, transparent, and inclusive discussions with regional and international experts and civil society at the 2nd Ministerial Dialogue on Pathways for the Global Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, hosted in Port Vila by the Governments of Vanuatu and Tuvalu from 15-17 March 2023.
We are appalled by the fossil-fuel driven consequences of the unprecedented two Category 4 cyclones striking Vanuatu within four days. This is just the most recent example of the extensive and ongoing fossil fuel-induced loss and damage suffered by the people and communities of the Pacific Islands.
The science is clear that fossil fuels are to blame for the climate emergency. This is a crisis driven by the greed of an exploitative industry and its enablers. It is not acceptable that countries and companies are still planning on producing more than double the amount of fossil fuels by 2030 than the world can burn to limit warming to 1.5ºC. As the UN Secretary General has said, fossil fuels are a moral and economic madness.
The Pacific will no longer accept the fossil fuel lie. We have the power and responsibility to lead, and we will. Pacific leaders called for the Paris Agreement to limit warming to 1.5ºC, and have demanded an end to the development and expansion of fossil fuel extracting industries, starting with new coal mines. Pacific civil society has challenged the world to step up the fight for urgent fossil fuel phase out and effective climate action.
As leaders, on behalf of present and future generation communities on the frontlines and all of humanity, we call for:
“A Fossil Fuel Free Pacific and a global, just, and equitable phase out of coal, oil and gas, including through Adopting a Pacific Island Forum Leaders Declaration for a Just Transition to a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific as soon as possible, that empowers the Pacific to spearhead the unqualified, global, just and equitable phase out of coal, oil and gas production in line with the global temperature goal, of below 1.5ºC, including at the UN Secretary General’s climate summit in September, at COP28, and beyond, and with the avoidance of terminology such as “unabated” or “inefficient” that creates loopholes for fossil fuel producers and polluters.”
