Egypt – The $100 billion to battle climate change pledged by developed countries should be delivered and made accessible, Fijian envoy to the UN urged at an international conference on climate change being held in Egypt.
“As we know, Fiji and Pacific island countries have been on the frontlines of climate change. This is not an exaggeration; a single extreme weather event might wipe out the whole economy. This is why Pacific island countries attach great importance to climate change and have an urgent need for a greater ambition to deal with it,” said Satyendra Prasad, Fiji’s permanent representative to the UN, at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27).
Prasad noted that in the past few years, Fiji has suffered from some extreme weather incidents caused by climate change, trapping the country in a cycle of “building and rebuilding”.
He said that they need more funds to battle climate change more quickly, adding that the funds developed countries promised in 2009 have not been fully delivered.
“Climate finance should not only be delivered, but also should make it available to countries like ours with low capacity to access to it. It must be speedy,” said the ambassador.
He said that the rising sea level has endangered the fresh water supply in some Pacific islands, forcing the islanders to ship their drinking water from other islands far away.
“They didn’t cause climate change, why they should pay for it?” Prasad asked.
“We hope that the COP27 can begin to make change just like what people are talking about, moving pledge into implementation. Climate finance is the building block, and this is the core problem that we need to resolve.”
XINHUA
