Pacific Island leaders are criticizing rich countries for not doing enough to control climate change despite being responsible for much of the problem, and for profiting from loans provided to vulnerable nations to mitigate the effects.
Leaders and representatives from Pacific Island nations on Monday demanded at a UN climate change conference in Bangkok that the world make more of an effort to put aside differences in combating environmental impacts, especially as their countries emerge from the economic devastation of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown said the finance model for combating climate change — giving out loans to reduce the effects — is “not the way to go” for countries in his region with such small populations that produce “inconsequential amounts of carbon emissions,” but suffer the most from the effects.
Photo: AP
He encouraged a shift toward grants or interest-free loans to help ease the financial burden on poorer countries.
“All we’re doing is adding debt to countries that have come out of COVID with increased debt, and to me it is actually quite offensive that we would be required to borrow money to build resilience, and to borrow from the very countries that are causing climate change,” he said.
Brown said his country lost an estimated 41 percent of its GDP because of the pandemic, “a loss of a decade’s worth of prosperity.”
He said he would give this message to leaders when he represents his tiny South Pacific nation with a population of about 17,000 at a summit later this week of the G7 leading industrialized nations in Japan, where he hopes to be able to speak on a more equal footing to the leaders than as “a grateful recipient” to “benevolent donors.”
Palauan President Surangel S. Whipps Jr said that financing opportunities are “few and difficult,” and criticized wealthy countries for failing to commit to provide the financial help they had promised, which he said represents only a tiny portion of their prioritized expenditures, such as the military.
“We didn’t cause the problem, but now they’re going to make money off of us by giving us a loan so we can pay back with interest,” he said. “So now you have to adapt, but we’ll give you money and make money off of you by giving you that money to adapt. That doesn’t make sense.”
Palau’s economy relies heavily on tourism, which is greatly threatened by the effects of climate change, Whipps said.
The country’s economic security is also a major issue in Palau’s negotiations with the US on the Compacts of Free Association, a broader agreement that is to govern its relations with Washington for the next two decades. Those ties grant the US unique military and other security rights in the islands in return for substantial aid.
US President Joe Biden’s administration has promised approximately US$900 million over the 20-year period, Whipps said.
He said that while the amount is “definitely less” than what his country would have wanted, he is largely satisfied with the terms, renegotiated from what was achieved during the administration of former US president Donald Trump.
While there are some concerns that the US Congress could cut foreign aid, affecting the funding, Whipps said he expects Washington to honor the agreement, which he hopes can be signed by both sides in Papua New Guinea next week.
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
RSS