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Climate Change Impacts on Low Lying Islands

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Climate Change Impacts on Low Lying Islands HE Ambassador Marlene Moses Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Nauru to the United Nations On behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and Law of the Sea, EiGhteenth meetinG: “the effects of climate chanGe on oceans” Presentation: “Climate ChanGe Impacts on Small Island DevelopinG States” Tuesday 16th May, 2017 Co-Chairs, Excellencies Distinguished Delegates and Fellow Panelists Good morning. Let me begin by first thanking the distinguished co-chairs, His Excellency Mr. Kornelios Korneliou of Cyprus, and His Excellency Mr. Gustavo Meza-Cuadra of Peru, for convening this panel. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a coalition of 39 UN Member States most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change. The theme of this year’s ICP, “the effects of climate change on oceans” is of particular interest and importance to Small Island Developing States (SIDS). We are at the forefront of experiencing the impacts of climate change, and are, not out of choice, but out of necessity forced to deal with these impacts. Many SIDS are low lying and have already been severely impacted by the effects of climate change. Many of us are the custodians of vast expanses of the ocean and seas and may actually be better defined as “large ocean States” as opposed to small island states. For example, consider that the Federated States of Micronesia has only 702 square kilometers of land territory but over 2.6 million square kilometers of exclusive economic zone. The EEZ of my own country Nauru is nearly 15,000 times the size of its land area. As we have a strong connection to the oceans, the impacts of climate change on the oceans, the focus of this panel, is of the utmost importance to us. 1 History of SIDS and our interest in climate change. Climate change is not a new issue for SIDS. In 1989, a group of us gathered in Malé, the capital of the Maldives, for the very first Small Island States Conference on Sea Level Rise. At that meeting, delegates and ministers from 14 island States signed the Malé Declaration on Global Warming and Sea Level Rise. Even way back in 1989, when climate science was still in its infancy, the Malé Declaration called on States to limit their greenhouse gas emissions. States at the meeting also declared our intent to work together, collaborate and seek international cooperation to protect the low-lying coastal and small island States from the dangers posed by “climate change, global warming, and sea level rise”. AOSIS, first negotiated as a block in 1990 at the Second World Climate Conference in Geneva and played a key role in the development of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UNFCCC. We still work together as a block on climate issues, and are one of the strongest voices at the climate change negotiations, including those currently underway in bonn. Importance of the oceans to SIDS Oceans cover about 70% of our planet. They are a key source of food security. Fish accounts for 17% of global protein consumption and in some coastal states, accounts for up to 70% of all protein consumed. The lives of people in SIDS are intimately connected to the ocean. Many people in SIDS depend on the ocean for their livelihood. Our culture and history are entwined with the oceans and seas. The economies of SIDS rely heavily on the ocean. Fisheries and sustainable tourism industries make up a large percentage of the economies of many SIDS. For example, fisheries exports make up over 60% of the gross domestic product of the Marshall Islands and nearly 60% of Kiribati’s GDP. Of the total 2.4 million tonnes of tuna caught in the western Pacific Ocean, 58 percent had been caught in the waters of Pacific SIDS. In CARICOM countries, 64,000 people are directly employed in small-scale fisheries and aquaculture with another 200,000 people working in fishing related activities, such as processing and boat repair. Coral reefs are not just a tourism draw for SIDS. Healthy reefs break waves, store carbon and support biodiversity. They slow beach erosion and are a source of sand. In the Caribbean, approximately 2 million people work in the tourism sector, generating 47 billion U.S. dollars of revenue in 2012. Tourism contributes to over 50% of GDP in the Seychelles, Cook Islands and Antigua and Barbuda. However, climate change and its impacts on the oceans are threating these crucially important sectors. Climate change and oceans 2 Oceans play a critical role in regulating the climate of the planet, acting as a climate sink by absorbing between 20-35% of the carbon produced every year. 93% of our excess heat goes into the ocean. One shocking fact I have heard is that we have been putting the heat of approximately five Hiroshima atom bombs into the ocean every single second since 1997. Increasing seawater temperatures provide more energy for the storms that develop at sea causing them to increase in intensity and deliver devastating impacts when the make landfall. Warmer water holds less oxygen than colder water. Already, scientists estimate that the oceans have lost 2% of their oxygen since 1960. Losing oxygen in the ocean, de- oxygenation, expands oxygen minimum zones, areas where organisms struggle to survive. It also increases stratification, the non-mixing of different layers of ocean waters, so that less oxygen-rich water is moved to lower levels. Fish and crustaceans are the most susceptible to even little changes in oxygen. Animals can experience the loss of vision, changes in sexual reproduction, loss of size and even mortality. Oceans have become 26% more acidic since prior to the industrial revolution. This acidification affects the ability of organisms to make shells, impacting coral reefs, shellfish and pteropods (snails, which provide food for larger fish). We already seeing massive coral reef bleaching events annually. As the ocean becomes more acidic, the ability of reefs to recover from events like bleaching but also trawling declines. Ocean warming is changing the circulation of the ocean currents, slowing them down. It could even cause them to stop, which would result in major changes to our planet. SIDS have a combined population of about 65 million people and we contribute less than 1% of GHG emissions. Although SIDS are among the least responsible for climate change, we are on the forefront of its adverse impacts. Vulnerability of SIDS to the impacts of climate change Many SIDS share certain characteristics that make us highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Some of these include limited natural resources, a concentration of population and infrastructure near the coastline, inadequate infrastructure, small economies highly vulnerable to shocks, relative isolation to markets and dependence on freshwater resources that are highly sensitive to sea-level change, to name just a few. Many SIDS are in the tropics and are seasonally affected by extreme weather events such as tropical storms, cyclones and hurricanes already. Also important is that many SIDS lack financial, technical and institutional capacity to mitigate and adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change. 3 Current impacts of climate change on oceans being experience by SIDS Some examples of the impacts of climate change on oceans being experienced by SIDS include – In 2016, Cyclone Winston, one of the strongest tropical storms to ever make landfall, erased 10% of the GDP of Fiji - the equivalent to 15 Hurricane Katrina’s simultaneously hitting the United States. In the same year, the Solomon Islands suffered the loss of five islands due to the impacts climate change - rising sea levels and increase ocean activity. In addition to increasing storm intensity, we are seeing impacts occurring gradually and daily. We are experiencing marine inundation of low-lying areas, saline intrusion into terrestrial systems, undermining our limited fresh water supplies and degrading ecosystems and habitat loss. For countries that are so dependent on tourism, coral bleaching and the corresponding impacts on tourism can be devastating to our economies. All across SIDS regions, the abundance of coral species is declining. It has decreased by 80 percent in the Caribbean. One report calculated the annual damage of coral reef loss by ocean acidification at between US $528 to $870 billon. Sea-level rise is already impacting our territories. In the tropical western Pacific, rates of sea level rise have been reported that are more than 4 times the global average. Potential future impacts of climate change on SIDS, if this is not controlled The amount of sea level rise we will see will depend on our actions. However, even if we are able to limit our carbon emissions, we have already locked in some sea level rise. A recent assessment found that under a relatively moderate global warming scenario where temperature targets of the Paris Agreement are slightly exceeded, seas could be expected to rise over half a meter. For countries like the Maldives, where 80 percent of the islands rise less than one meter above sea level, this would be devastating. Research has shown that as much as 29 percent of major resort properties in CARICOM countries would be partially or fully inundated by a one-meter sea-level rise. Mauritius is projected to become a “water-stressed” country and Comoros a “water- scarce” country by 2025. This will affect not only the populations but also tourism industry in these nations. Climate change will greatly impact the health our people. High temperatures and increased intensity of storms will lead to an increased risk of food and water-borne diseases, vector-borne diseases, under-nutrition resulting from diminished food production, lost work capacity and reduced labor productivity.
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