Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama today stressed that erratic weather patterns and it’s immeasurable disastrous impacts will put safe and clean water painfully out of reach for hundreds of millions of people.
Bainimarama was addressing the High Level Event on Interlinkages Between Water and Climate Action in New York.
He highlighted that the people of Fiji know that when it comes to accessing clean water, that half a degree difference in global temperature can mean the very difference between life and death for millions of people.
Bainimarama stressed that Fiji will continue to put the 1.5‑degree target in sight and Fiji needs to enlist every government in the effort to hold global temperature rises to that level and failure is not an option.
He says that if nations do not take action, the balance of the seasons will soon be written off as ancient history and rainy seasons will bring even more intense floods, drowning entire communities, while the dry seasons will bring even longer droughts, destroying crops and depleting ground water resources.
Bainimarama also reiterated that by 2050, it is projected there will be nine billion people in the world and he stressed that if present trends continue, climate‑induced water stress will become massively more prevalent.
The Prime Minister has urged for more countries – and larger emitters in particular – to join Fiji and the Republic of Marshall Islands in their commitment to enhance their NDCs and develop long‑term strategies.
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