Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley underscored the existential threat facing vulnerable territories if global warming exceeds the 1.5C Paris Agreement target. Outgoing UN Secretary General António Guterres urged countries to levy windfall taxes on fossil fuel profits tied to the Iran war to aid disaster recovery. Meanwhile, summit co-hosts Turkey and Australia faced scrutiny, as Turkey recently celebrated discovering 135 million barrels of oil and Australia omitted fossil fuels from its address.
Key points
Vulnerable island nations face existential threats from coastal erosion and reef bleachin…: Vulnerable island nations face existential threats from coastal erosion and reef bleaching as global policies head toward 2.8C of warming.
Summit hosts Turkey and Australia drew strong criticism for expanding and omitting domest…: Summit hosts Turkey and Australia drew strong criticism for expanding and omitting domestic fossil fuel extraction from critical climate discussions.
Diplomatic momentum remains severely hampered by absent world leaders and widespread fail…: Diplomatic momentum remains severely hampered by absent world leaders and widespread failures among participating countries to meet agreed emissions targets.
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Failure to provide an overwhelming response to the climate crisis means “the world we know is over”, the president of the embattled Marshall Islands has warned, as dozens of leaders gathered in Turkey for the Cop31 climate summit.
Hilda Heine, one of a handful of Pacific Island leaders to make an impassioned speech at Cop31 on Wednesday, told other heads of state that overshooting the 1.5C Paris temperature target would mean waves eating away their shores and floods that destroy towns, schools and hospitals.
She described seeing bright, lush coral beneath the water of her home island in July that had been bleached white just months later.
“It’s time to wake up,” said Heine. “Our response to the threat of overshoot must be overwhelming, or the world we know is over.”
Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, also called out governments who had “not tried hard enough” to curb emissions since the Paris agreement.
“The UN tells us that, even if every pledge is delivered, we are heading for 2.6 degrees,” she said. “On current policies, 2.8 degrees is…
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