Pacific warms up for COP19

Pacific island states have arrived at this year’s Climate Change Conference in Warsaw Poland, hoping that their collective voice will finally be heard. The 19^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework to Convention on Climate Change (COP 19) commenced yesterday with emotionally charged opening statements from participating nations, many evoking the devastation caused by typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Palau, Vietnam and elsewhere. All 14 Pacific island countries will be negotiating as part of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) – a coalition of 44 states and observers from small island and low-lying coastal countries. AOSIS begun by asking the international community to reflect on whether it is living up to commitments made two decades ago to tackle climate change.

This article was written by

Jenn Bowtell

UNSURE REFUGE

DP25 – Predatory lending practices are leading some Pacific island countries toward insolvency.
YOUTHQUAKE

DP17 – Half the population of our region is under 24, and the Pacific has some of the highest population growth rates in the world. How will population pressures affect the quality of our democracy and young people’s opportunities?
CLIMATE COUNTDOWN

DP12 – The sirens have sounded on climate change. Pacific islands are on the frontline and some are facing an existential threat to their very existence.

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