HON. PM BAINIMARAMA'S SPEECH AT THE COMMISSIONING OF THE WAINAWAQA VILLAGE RIVERBANK PROTECTION PROJECT

Na Gone Turaga ni Yavusa o Navitilevu;
Turaga ni Mataqali Mataiqereqere;
The Minister for Waterways;
The Minister for Infrastructure and Transport;
Turaga na iTalatala;
Senior Government Officials;
Ladies and Gentlemen.

Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to you all. 

Over the last several years, I’ve been fighting on the world stage to demand action on climate change; the single greatest threat faced by our planet. 

I’ve even led the world in that effort – as President of COP23 – and I’ve met with world leaders, businesses, innovators, NGOs, and with individuals to unite them in a grand coalition for decisive climate action. Last night, I actually spoke with the Crown Prince of Norway, Haakon Magnus, on this very issue. The Crown Prince is visiting Fiji at the moment, as Norway is an important partner to Fiji when it comes to protecting our oceans and our climate. 

It was just over one year ago that I returned from Bonn, Germany after successfully presiding over the global COP23 negotiations. As COP President, we moved the needle of progress to address this growing threat. But our work is only beginning. The threat of climate change will not vanish overnight, and we cannot afford to let Fiji’s voice go silent on this issue.

We must remain a leader on the frontlines of this global campaign. We must remain a champion for climate vulnerable people the world over. 

No matter the capacity in which I go before the world, whether that be as COP23 President or otherwise, I always go – first and foremost – as your Prime Minister. I always bring the voices, the experiences and the struggles of our people with me. I tell them that we, the Fijian people, are already living with the disastrous impacts of our changing climate. We are already experiencing more frequent and ferocious cyclones, like Cyclone Winston in 2016. We are already having to relocate communities to escape the rising seas. We are already suffering from the longer droughts and we are already living through the heavier rains and flooding; particularly in communities located on riverbanks – communities like Wainawaqa. 

These worsening climate impacts are a direct result of the burning of fossil fuels, which emit harmful greenhouse gasses that warm our atmosphere and cause our climate to change. The tragic irony is that Fiji is a very small emitter of greenhouse gasses, but we’re seeing some of the most severe consequences of climate change. 

Our climate advocacy abroad is seeking to limit those emissions in the large, industrialised nations by replacing fossil fuels with cleaner, renewable energy sources. 

We must continue that campaign, but we must also realise that these impacts aren’t going away. We must accept that – even in our best-case scenario of restricting greenhouse gas emissions – these climate impacts are going to get worse before they ever begin to get better. We can’t wait on the pace of global climate politics, we need to begin adapting our communities now, before it is too late. That is what this riverbank protection project is all about. 

We all know that riverbank erosion isn’t some new phenomena. Erosion has been affecting Fijian communities for all of our history. But the heavier rains brought by climate change are making that erosion happen far more quickly, and have far worse impacts on our communities. 

In Wainawaqa, your homes, your roads and your livelihoods are increasingly being threatened by river waters. It’s making your community – a home you’ve known for generations – become unliveable. 

These protection works will give you back your security and allow you to go about your lives without living in fear of worsening flooding. It includes the construction of eight boulder groyne works, which will be carried out at a cost of over 984,000 Dollars. My Government is covering that cost entirely. 

When this project is completed, this river will no longer be a threat that makes you fear for your safety and the safety of your families. The balance that has existed between the communities of Wainawaqa and the Waidina River will be restored. This river will remain a source of water to drink, stay clean and support your farms, a source of food and a source of your livelihoods. 

As was the case for your parents, your grandparents and all those who came before you, this river will continue to form an essential piece of your identities. As it will for your children, your grandchildren and the future generations. 

Of course, your community is not the only community besieged by our changing climate. Later today, I will be in Nadakuni Village, where we’re commissioning another riverbank protection project, funded to the tune of over 975,000 Dollars. 

Friends, we must always remember that the struggle brought by climate change is not Fiji’s struggle alone. As you experience climate impacts here in Wainawaqa, so do other families in China, Bangladesh and other Asian countries, in African countries, in Europe, in the United States and across the Americas. This is a crisis of global proportions, and we must work together to unite the people of the world to protect our oceans, our natural environment and our climate from further harm. 

Abroad, my Government will remain a committed champion in addressing the root causes of this growing threat. We will continue to demand greater action from the industrialised nations of the world. We will continue to forge partnerships that advance that important cause. 

At home, we will continue to do the necessary work to protect our people and our nation’s unprecedented progress. The scale of the threat we face may be great; but we cannot be intimidated into inaction. We must persevere. We must continue our nation’s progress. We must find new solutions and we must put in the resources, time and effort to prepare our communities for the threats on the horizon. 

That is the strength of my Government’s commitment; Now and forever. 

Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you.