Nine leaders of climate crisis-threatened islands in the Pacific have signed the Nadi Bay Declaration, urging for immediate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cuts, with shipping central to their demands.
Citing a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the declaration states: “The science warns of the real possibility that coral atoll nations could become uninhabitable as early as 2030. By 2100, the coral atoll nations of the republic of the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Tokelau and the Maldives and many [small island developing states] could be submerged.”
Contained within the document is demands for shipping to slash its carbon footprint.
The Pacific island leaders have called on shipping to recognise the ambitions of the Tony de Brum Declaration that targets a reduction of GHG emissions from the shipping industry, and encourage all countries to support efforts aimed at decarbonising the transport sector, particularly the maritime sector, and seek Pacific partnerships working to advance these efforts.
The Tony de Brum Declaration is named after the late foreign minister of the Marshall Islands who was a vocal supporter of strong action by regulators like the IMO to severely curb CO2 emissions from shipping.
