Climate change not only environmental
Author: Victoria Holdsworth
Article Date: 13 Nov 2007
Small island states already feeling the social, economic and political impact
The social, economic and political impacts of climate change are already being felt by many Commonwealth countries, according to several Ministers at the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers meeting held in New York in September.
They stressed that climate change was not only an environmental problem, but that areas such as food security were also being affected. Small islands, already marginalised by trade barriers, are particularly vulnerable.
In an interview ahead of the meeting, Patteson Oti, Foreign Minister of the Solomon Islands, said that climate change was a global issue and that the Commonwealth, alongside other international, national and regional organisations, has an “obligation” to help.
“We have a common cause, and need to address the issue at all levels. Many affected countries, small islands and low lying states are Commonwealth members. There is no time to wait for agreements on adapting to climate change which was already impacting small island states, especially with sea level rises,” he said.
Mr Oti described how crops were being affected because of salinity in ground water, which is irreversible.
“The questions are: How to adapt? What sort of agriculture should be practised? What sort of technology is available for them to continue to survive in terms of food security? We cannot wait. For us, it is already there.”
The Minister spoke after world leaders and officials from more than 160 countries met at the United Nations Headquarters in New York to discuss the leadership challenges of climate change.
“For the Solomon Islands, this is about the allocation of resources, particularly for development. Emphasis should be on sustainable programmes and projects that would contribute to mitigating climate change factors. The donor community and governments must account for this in the allocation of resources in their budgets,” he added.
“Development and climate change are not separate. They are one and the same thing. Development is dictated to by issues of concern in climate change, and visa versa.”
In terms of financing the effects of climate change, there should be a strong emphasis on country support, Mr Oti argued. “Since the Rio climate change summit and since the issue of sustainable development was first mooted, the emphasis has been on either global or regional support of country programmes. Some countries have not seen global and regional support efforts translated on the ground,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Oti told a press conference on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), that climate change was the single most important threat facing the economic development, peace and security, and the very existence of small island states.
“As the proverbial canary in the coal mine, small island states have repeatedly raised the alarm bells of global warming over the last 15 years. Climate change is the symptom and not the disease. The disease is our unsustainable means of production, worsened by unsustainable patterns of consumption.”
AOSIS is a 43-nation coalition of small islands and low lying coastal states of which 26 are Commonwealth countries. The Commonwealth was one of the first major multilateral organisations to draw attention to concerns about climate change, when it was discussed by Heads of Government in 1989.
At the meeting of Commonwealth Foreign Ministers, in New York, Secretary-General Don McKinnon said that climate change would be a major topic when Commonwealth Heads of Government meet in Kampala later this month. He stated that the Commonwealth will work towards a statement on climate change and build consensus for international co-operation and action.