Tuvalu’s prime minister has told the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting that planned the planned expansion of fossil fuel projects in nations such as Australia represented, for his country, a “death sentence” as climate change took centre stage in Apia, Samoa.
The phrase had not been chosen lightly, said Prime Minister Feleti Teo, who warned that Pacific Islands countries “will not sit quietly and allow others to determine our fate.”
His challenge comes as a new report from the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative reveals that, despite representing only 6 percent of the Commonwealth’s population, Australia, Canada, and the UK have been responsible for 60 percent of extraction emissions across Commonwealth countries since 1990.
The Tuvalu said that Australia was “highly morally obliged” to take further action to reduce emissions and phase out fossil fuels.
Vanuatu’s climate envoy, Ralph Regenvanu, said developed countries should not “sacrifice the future of vulnerable nations for short-term gains” and called on them to “stop the expansion of fossil fuels in order to protect what we love and hold dear here in the Pacific.”
Tuvalu and Vanuatu have led the campaign for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, committing signatories to ending the expansion of oil, gas, and coal exploration. So far 12 other Pacific nations have joined, including Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, the Marshall Islands, Colombia and CHOGM host Samoa.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who is attending the summit, said Australia is tackling the “big task” of transitioning its economy to net zero, but cannot be held responsible for the emissions caused by the coal and gas it sends to to other countries.
Asked about Teo’s comments on the agreement with Australia, Wong said the world needed to work together to reduce coal and gas and pointed out that India and China combined accounted for 40 percent of global emissions.
“We all have to commit to reducing emissions and transitioning to cleaner energy,” she told reporters in Apia.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese delivered the same message when he arrived at CHOGM on Oct. 24.
While acknowledging that climate change poses an “existential threat to countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati and others in our region,” he said the entry fee for credibility when it comes to international forums such as this is “[an] acknowledgement of the challenge of climate change and preparedness to act on it.
“And it is up to countries like Australia to show leadership. We have done that. Which is one of the ways that we have restored our credibility in international forums such as this.”
Leader of the host nation, Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata'afa, made it clear she wanted the first CHOGM meeting held in the Pacific to be transformational, with climate change impacts a priority for discussion.
A leaders meeting will occur later today after King Charles III, who has long expressed concern about climate change, has been shown the impact of rising sea levels on Samoa, which are forcing people to move.
Foreign Minister Wong said she hoped leaders would discuss the issue of Pacific Islands nations maintaining sovereignty over exclusive economic zones spanning millions of square kilometres of ocean, imperative to their survival.
Discussion would centre on what happens to the size of the zones—which give rights to natural resources—as smaller nations suffer from rising sea levels.
Wong joined a roundtable with her Commonwealth counterparts and met with UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy to discuss an investment network to help smaller states access finance.
She also announced a partnership on climate-responsive agriculture to address food security in Africa, which the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research will develop.
“One of the things Australia is good at is agriculture in very dry climates,” she said.
