COP27, Sharm-El-Sheik, Egypt, November 7, 2022--Kiribati President Taneti Maamau has told the high-level plenary of the COP27 of the need for urgent action at the Together for Implementation COP.
In his national statement to other world leaders, Maamau said it "is indeed a critical time for us to be more ambitious in implementing the Paris Agreement with solutions premised on bolstering the resilience of our peoples against the adverse impact of climate change."
"It has been 30 years since the inception of the UNFCCC, and it is disheartening to see that some continue to use this process to pursue their own political agendas, despite the science, some continue to block ambitious actions that could curb global emissions and develop effective solutions to address climate change impacts," he said.
"Consequently, for frontline countries like Kiribati, this would be detrimental to our sovereign desire to safeguard our people. Climate change is happening, and loss and damage is very real. Yet the major solutions that we talk about remain distant as we are at the mercy of multilateral implementing agencies who continue to determine how we adapt and access financial resources. Nevertheless, we remain hopeful that our collective efforts and partnership will address these concerns."
He said Kiribati needs include data, capacity building and technology transfer, and country specific science projections to make adaptation planning much more effective, and in 2022, a state of disaster was declared due to a severe drought across islands frequently inundated by storm surges.
"The impact of extreme spring tides continues to be a threat to our economy, our future development and is destroying the very fabric of our livelihoods," the President said.
He said despite these challenges, "our commitment to building resilience is driven by the desire of the people to remain living in Kiribati.... the cost of maintaining our livelihoods in the face of climate change already exceeds our means, yet it does not dampen our resolve to put resources where we can."--ENDS
Read the Kiribati COP27 plenary statement in full
Read more on climate change, Office of the President
