The region’s largest economic power should push hard for a deal to help the Pacific islands at the summit beginning on 30 November, says Peter O’Neill

Australia must help Pacific islands at Paris climate summit, says PNG leader

Papua New Guinea’s prime minister Peter O’Neill has urged Australia to be an advocate for the Pacific in pushing for a strong agreement at this month’s worldwide climate change talks in Paris.



The governments of more than 190 nations will meet at COP21 in the French capital, beginning on 30 November, to discuss a new global climate accord.

O’Neill and other Pacific leaders – whose countries are already experiencing the impacts of climate change – are preparing to vigorously prosecute their concerns on global climate action in Paris.



Pacific islands make last-ditch plea to world before Paris climate change talks Read more

But as the largest economy in the region, Australia must also lend its authority to the position of the Pacific islands, O’Neill argued.

“(Climate change) is a huge challenge for Pacific Island nations,” O’Neill said in Port Moresby on Monday. “We are hoping that Australia will take a leadership role in stating our position to the global community.”

The PNG leader asked that the world recognise the impact of climate change on the Pacific was not simply economic, but existential.

“I think Pacific islanders are not really looking for a financial reward,” he said. “We are looking to make sure the international community can assist in the resettlement exercise and rebuilding some of the communities.”

Climate change is likely to be a massive driver of forced migration over the next century, as densely populated, low-lying areas become unliveable because of rising sea levels, inundation, and salinity.



Nasa satellite data suggests a sea level rise of 90 centimetres or more is unavoidable over the next 100 to 200 years.

More than 150 million people, most of them in Asia, live within one metre of the current sea level.

And while rising seas will have “profound impacts” around the world, Nasa earth science division director Michael Freilich said this year, those impacts will be acutely felt in the low-lying Pacific.



“It may entirely eliminate some Pacific island nations,” he said.

The comments came as Labor leader Bill Shorten, shadow foreign minister Tanya Plibersek and shadow immigration minister Richard Marles, met O’Neill in Port Moresby on Monday.



Shorten said Australia needed a “credible” position on its own emissions in order to be an effective advocate at Paris.



“The message I’m already getting loud and clear is that climate change is a first order issue for our neighbours and we need ... Australia to have serious policies, credible policies which will help to contribute to mitigating the effects of climate change in our region.”

The government’s minister for international development and the Pacific, Steve Ciobo, is also in the region this week, visiting New Caledonia, Fiji, and Niue.

“Australia recognises climate change is a critical issue for our region, with significant potential to impact prospects for economic growth and stability. We are working with Pacific Island countries on resilience measures through the Green Climate Fund and our regional aid program.”

Nations across the Pacific are already experiencing the effects of climate change, compounded this southern hemisphere summer by a severe El Nino weather pattern.

At the Pacific Islands Forum in September, smaller island countries pushed for a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, instead of the international aim of 2 degrees.

Australia and New Zealand refused to back the lower goal but agreed to let the islands take their position separately to Paris.



