The devastation caused by multiple climate disasters in recent months have shown, once again, that islands in the Pacific are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events, exacerbated and made more frequent by climate change. Despite recent distractions around the Paris Climate Agreement, it is time to re-focus our efforts and unite to find solutions for those suffering the most on the frontlines of climate change.
Presided over by the Government of Fiji, the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place at the headquarters of the UNFCCC Secretariat in Bonn, Germany.
We call on parties to the first ever COP to be hosted by a small-island state to concentrate on alleviating the problems of those who suffer most from climate change, although they have contributed least to the problems.
Climate change adaptation is an urgent, life-threatening issue for millions of people in the most vulnerable regions of the world. And it’s not only their lives and land which are under attack but also their food and nutrition security. In these cases, adaptation means making farms, and how farmers grow food, more resilient.
Leading with foresight, the Fijian island of Cicia has taken first steps toward securing the future of its citizens by going organic.
Organic farms emit much lower levels of greenhouse gases. They quickly, affordably and effectively sequester carbon in the soil and can retain as much as 28 % more carbon in the soil than industrial farming.
In fact, if we increase by just 0.4% a year the quantity of carbon stored in soils, we can halt the annual increase of CO2 in the atmosphere, which is a major contributor to climate change.
