The vital climate summit in Glasgow is approaching, while the Pacific Island of Tuvalu cop the brunt of climate change
The nation of Tuvalu is seeing an alarming rise in tides, with experts predicting the Island will be decimated in the near future.
Tuvalu grapples with climate change
Prime Minister Kausea Natano addresses the UN General Assembly asking some very vital questions as his country faces total submersion. These are valid but difficult moral and political questions millions of people in low-lying coastal areas continue to grapple with.
“How strong will the next tropical cyclone be?
What about our traditional culture and heritage?
Our human rights?
Will Tuvalu remain a member of the UN if it is finally submerged? Who can help us, and will they help us?”
“Until we have answers, sustainable development for us will only be wishful thinking and a short-term goal running on borrowed time. Not a reality we can accomplish,”
“Indeed, the cost of continuous rebuilding after every tropical storm and adapting to increasing sea levels leaves little fiscal space for investment in the SDGs,
our global climate actions must focus on the root causes of climate change to break this cycle of costly and continuous rebuilding,”
Prime Minister Kausea Natano
The international community must now consider solutions to protect the rights of people affected by the impacts of climate change and to avoid chaotic responses to uncontrolled mass climate displacement.
Tuvalu’s Prime Minister explained to the assembly that one obvious sustainable solution is to stop and reverse increasing global temperatures.
Prime Minister Kausea Natano addresses the UN General Assembly
“They’ve got an avergae level of two metres above sea level,
we know climate change is already going to increase sea levels by one metre.
It also means there is massive storm surge- these Islands will be decimated.”
Scott Hamilton, Ticker Climate co-host & energy expert
COP26 in Glasgow
Climate change is high on the agenda for our world’s leaders right now, with talks taking place recently at the UN General Assembly and also the Quad meet. Major climate talks are looming at the upcoming COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in November.
This is seen as the most critical climate meeting in nearly ten years. However, Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, is yet to make a decision on whether he will attend the summit in Glasgow.
The Prime Minister’s office says a decision hasn’t been made, with Foreign Minister Marise Payne confirming they’re still finalising who will represent Australia at the event.
Morrison has made a few key international trips since the pandemic, in relation to the Aukus alliance and also trips to Japan and the United Kingdom. Critics are questioning how the Prime Minister can be absent from the crucial meeting, when Joe Biden and Boris Johnson will be there.
Australia has continuously been scrutinised for its unambitious emission reduction targets and its absence in adopting net-zero emissions by 2050 goal yet. Also, the Prime Minister coming under fire for Australia’s lingering commitment to the coal industry.
“Morrison recently reached out to Biden and Boris for the nuclear subs deal… so you would think he would therefore see the importance if those two leaders are making the effort to go to Glasgow…
It really is telling that he is equivocating that he’s not really serious about climate action. It’s the actions that count.”
Scott Hamilton, Ticker Climate co-host & energy expert
Canceling coal
As the world transitions away from coal, Australia seems reluctant to consider a future without it. Country coal towns and the Australian economy rely heavily on the coal industry. However, it is crucial that Australia now paves its way in a new direction.
The coal industry gives thousands of Australians jobs, but when the rest of the world moves away from coal, Australia’s exporting opportunities will no longer be there.
That’s why it’s essential to create a plan, so people are not left in dead-end industries and we’re in line with the rest of the world in tackling climate change. This all comes as state Energy Minister’s urge the Australian Government to put an end to coal and look at climate-friendly alternatives.
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“One of the big messages coming out of that meeting [Quad] from India,
is the demand for green steel, made from green hydrogen.
Not from coal and not from fossil gas.”
Scott Hamilton, Ticker Climate co-host & energy expert
World River’s Day
World Rivers Day is a day for the celebration of our rivers and waterways, but also a day for remembering how fragile they are. Ticker Climate co-host Scott Hamilton is launching his book Sold Down The River, with co-author Stuart Kells.
This book is critical in highlighting the impact of climate change on the iconic Murray Darling Basin Rivers in Australia.
Watch this week’s full episode.
