Papua New Guinea calls on Australia for COP21 climate action

Southern pacific nations have once again called for extreme action to combat climate change, this time urging Australia to act as an advocate for the Pacific.

The call comes from Papua New Guinea’s prime minister Peter O’Neill, who has urged Australia to push for a strong agreement at COP21 climate talks in Paris in December.

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.”

 “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.

The Pacific islands of Fiji, Kiribati (pictured), Tuvalu and Tokelau will be particularly affected. 

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.