At the Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting in Tonga, he told the news, “The Pacific is today the most vulnerable area of the world.” “I am here because of a great injustice that exists with regard to the Pacific.”
“Everything that happens because of climate change is multiplied here, but the small islands don’t contribute to it.”
But finally, when the UN issued two assessments on rising sea levels and their threat to Pacific island states, he warned that the “surging seas are coming for us all” in an address at the forum.
,,According to the World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in the South West Pacific report, this region is experiencing three major climate change phenomena at once: an increasing sea level rise, ocean warming, and acidification, or an increase in the acidity of the water due to increased carbon dioxide absorption.
During his statement at the forum, Mr. Guterres stated, “The reason is clear: greenhouse gases, generated overwhelmingly by burning fossil fuels, are cooking our planet.”
“The ocean is literally absorbing the heat.”
This year’s theme, transformative resilience, was tested on opening day when buildings were evacuated due to an earthquake and the new auditorium was flooded by torrential rain.
