‘Surging seas are coming for us all’ – UN Secretary-General raises serious alarm
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has issued his latest climate SOS, calling on nations worldwide to “Save Our Seas” as he warned of a crisis of an unimaginable scale caused by global warming causing greenhouse gases and rising sea levels.
Speaking at a gathering of Pacific Island regional leaders on Tuesday, in Tonga’s capital Nuku’alofa, he warned that there was ‘no lifeboat that could take us to safety’ and this will turn unavoidable if not solved now.
“This is a crazy situation. Rising seas are a reality and are entirely a human’s making. A crisis that will soon swell to an unimaginable scale. The reason is clear: Greenhouse gases, overwhelmingly generated by burning fossil fuel, are cooking our planet. And the sea is taking the heat, literally”, he said.
The capital is hosting more than 1000 international delegates for the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting until Aug 30. Climate Change and its impact on the Pacific low lying communities, islands, and habitats are high on the agenda at this gathering of the World’s most imperialistic nations.
It’s being reported that about 90 percent of people dwelling within 5 kilometres (3 miles) off the coast, and at an average elevation of 1-2 metres that is 3.2 to 6.5 feet above the sea level, are uniquely exposed.
Guterres is also expected to visit Samoa while he is on this tour of the Pacific. “Without a drastic cut to emissions, the Pacific Islands can expect at least 15 cm or 6 inches of additional sea level rise by the year 2050, and more than 30 days per year of coastal flooding in some places”, he said.
The Pacific Resilience Facility, a Pacific owned and led financial institution, supporting local communities to the bad effects of climate change is scheduled to start operations in 2025 but is facing a severe shortfall in funding from international donors.
The G20 nations are the biggest emitters of Greenhouse gases that are leading cause of this sea level rise. The Climate Action Team report of the UN has found that sea level rise around the Nuku’alofa has been a huge 21 centimetres (8.3 inches) between 1990 and 2020 more than twice the global average of 10 centimetres or 3.9 inches.
