“Policy statements should not become a wish list, rather it must be supported with practical changes and must be actioned.”
Speaking at the World Food Summit in Rome yesterday Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama urged leaders to recognise the immediate problems that are affecting many countries and try and find workable solutions for a sustainable world of tomorrow.
With the Food Summit having a dedicated session on Climate Change PM Bainimarama told leaders that rising sea levels affect not just the food security of these vulnerable pacific island economies, but it puts into doubt the very existence of these regions.
He added if left unchecked, unmitigated climatic changes have and will result in the occurrence of more natural disasters.
“We in Fiji experienced unprecedented floods in February of this year. The enormous devastation caused by such disasters not only results in commercial and economic hardships but has a deleterious effect on food production, the ill effects of climate change can still be minimised.”
However PM Bainimarama stressed the need for leaders to seriously consider the threat of Cimatic Change and that the United Nations Climatic Change Conference in Copenhagen from Dec 7-18 needs to be a success.
“It is imperative that we view food security and world hunger not just as a problem for individual countries or individual regions like climate change it is a global phenomenon; like climate change there are some countries that need to take more responsibility than others; like climate the measures adopted must recognise that there are those that have more to give and indeed must do so; like climate change the global system of how we interact and do business must be restructured.”
Global decision makers will come together and agree on a new climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol of 1997 at Copenhagen Denmark.