Participants in the session “Rising Ocean Levels: Governments’ Fight Against Climate Change” raised their voice to defend the right of island nations to uphold their survival and existence, which is threatened by climate change resulting from the activities and practices of major industrialized countries.
Representatives of the governments of three island countries, speakers at the session, the President of the Republic of Seychelles, Raphael McClain, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Brown, and the Vice President of the Republic of Maldives, Naseem Faisal, expressed their country’s readiness to cooperate with the global community in addressing the problem of climate change, despite They are among the parties that did not cause the problem at a time when climate change threatens the existence of their lands that are prone to drowning as a result of the assault on the environment by industry, wars and other factors that have nothing to do with them.
The participants stressed that the ability of the international community to confront the problem and put an end to it is not undermined by financial resources and budgets, stressing that the major countries have sufficient funds to take any decision or implement any plan whenever they want.
The oceans on which these island nations are located are the central force in regulating global climate. According to scientists, since the beginning of the industrial age, the oceans have borne the brunt of the consequences of excessive burning of fossil fuels, absorbing carbon dioxide emissions, and most of the heat from global warming.
The participants recalled the reports of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which indicated the scale of the disaster and the devastation that befell those countries, their wealth and resources. Those reports indicated that rising ocean temperatures is the biggest hidden and dangerous challenge because warming has affected all marine life, from the smallest microbes to the largest whales. It set the stage for a rapid collapse and put key human sectors at risk, particularly fisheries and aquaculture.
The participants called on the international community to act and put a practical end to the threat that poses a great existential threat to small island developing States, not only because they may drown but also because they are still highly dependent on marine resources for food and income, and need vibrant vital habitats to support their resources of eco-tourism and marine. They stressed that the exposure of their lands to rising sea levels resulting from global warming, not only threatens their coastal infrastructure, but could also render their islands uninhabitable unless the required actions are taken in a practical and binding manner for all parties in the international community.
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