“Pacific Island States Are the Soul of Climate Diplomacy” – Libération

As the leaders of this region, which is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels, have been meeting since Monday, August 26, Lola Vallejo, from the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, recalls the key role of these small states in climate negotiations.

“If we save the Pacific, we save the world,” loudly declared the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, on Monday, August 26. Invited to the summit of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) which is taking place all week until Friday in the Kingdom of Tonga, the head of the United Nations launched a «Global SOS on rising sea levels”, unveiling a new report from the World Meteorological Organization. It highlights that sea level rise is faster in some areas of the Pacific than elsewhere in the world. Locally, between 1993 and 2023, the vast collection of volcanic islands and coral atolls in the southwest Pacific has experienced sea level rise of up to 15 cm, compared to a global average of about 10 cm.