Facing existential threat from climate change, Pacific Islanders urge world to listen

Excerpt from axios.com

Decades after Pacific Islanders first raised the alarm, the rest of the world is finally catching up: The climate crisis is here, and it’s accelerating.

Why it matters: Pacific Islanders, whose nations face an existential threat from climate change, were a major force behind the Paris Agreement. Heading into November’s UN climate summit, they are calling for greater urgency in meeting the goals of the accord, and more direct action from world leaders — especially President Biden.

State of play: Pacific Islanders have suffered some of the world’s most serious climate impacts to date, with sea level rise caused by the burning of fossil fuels posing an existential risk. Additionally, the legacy of toxic pollution from nuclear tests and waste facilities haunts some of these island nations.

• In the Pacific, sea levels are rising at faster rates than projected, according to the U.S. Geological Service. Some islands have already been swallowed by the sea.
• Island nations like the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) — where the U.S. has dumped massive amounts of nuclear waste — are considering relocating their citizens or building an elevated island. By 2030, “we’re expected to be underwater,” then-RMI President Hilda Heine said in 2019. “It is the very existence of the Marshall Islands that’s at stake.”
• On Guam, U.S. defense activities have elevated health and environmental risks, according to its Indigenous community. Three UN Special Rapporteurs backed their concerns in a January letter to Biden, calling U.S. actions a human rights violation.
• The Japanese government’s plans to discharge 1.25 million tons of contaminated nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean have drawn protests from Pacific Islanders.