If virus doesn't kill us, climate change will: World leaders at UN

In a year of cataclysm some world leaders at this weeks annual United Nations meeting are taking the long view warning If COVID19 doesnt kill us climate change will With Siberia seeing its warmest temperature on record this year and enormous chunks of ice caps in Greenland and Canada sliding into the sea countries are acutely aware theres no vaccine for global warmingWe are already seeing a version of environmental Armageddon Fijis Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said citing wildfires in the western US and noting that the Greenland ice chunk was larger than a number of island nations This was meant to be the year we took back our planet he said Instead the coronavirus has diverted resources and attention from what could have been the marquee issue at this UN gatheringMeanwhile the UN global climate summit has been postponed to late 2021 That hasnt stopped countries from slowly sinking island nations to parched African ones from speaking out In another 75 years many members may no longer hold seats at the United Nations if the world continues on its present course the Alliance of Small Island States and the Least Developed Countries Group saidThe main goal of the 2015 Paris climate accord is to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees Celsius 36 degrees Fahrenheit above preindustrial times but scientists say the world is on track to soar past that A new study found that if the world warms another 09 degrees Celsius 16 degrees Fahrenheit the West Antarctic ice sheet will reach a point of irreversible melting It has enough water to raise global sea levels by 5 meters 16 feetThe Pacific island nation of Palau hasnt had a single COVID19 infection but President Tommy E Remengesau Jr warns its the rising seas that will bring the country downThe momentary drop in carbon emissions this year cannot be allowed to generate any complacency about global progress he said referring to the sparkling skies that followed lockdowns to slow the spread of the virus around the worldPollution has crept back up as restrictions ease World powers cannot shirk their financial commitments to fighting climate change during the pandemic Remengesau said even as economies are battered But few pledges have emerged at the UN gathering aside from Chinas announcement that it aims to have carbon dioxide emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060The pandemic has muted the UN meeting with world leaders speaking not from the podium in New York but via video from home That has sapped the urgency of diplomacy and left nations wondering just how many people are listeningAmid concerns that the world is distracted it was perhaps no surprise that the studentled movement Fridays for Future returned to the streets this week for the first major demonstrations for climate action in monthsStill island nations have seized on the unusual circumstances to show off whats at stake The prime minister of Tuvalu Kausea Natano delivered his UN speech with a vista of turquoise waters and swaying fronds behind him that instantly fired the imaginations of housebound viewers But the prime minister quickly shattered any dreams While Tuvalu is free of the coronavirus the pandemic struck as the island nation was recovering from a pair of tropical cyclones storms that scientists say are likely to become wetter as the planet warms Tuvalus highest point is just a few meters yards above sea levelThe pandemics effect on the movement of goods exposed food insecurity as local agriculture becomes more difficult with rising sea levels Natano said While COVID19 is our immediate crisis climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods security and wellbeing of the Pacific and its peoples in the long run the prime minister said From the Marshall Islands also free of COVID19 President David Kabua used the viruss example to plead for more help nowChange relies on protecting the most vulnerable because those on the frontline whether healthcare workers battling the pandemic or small island nations sounding the alarm on climate change are critical to the survival of us all he saidSmall island and atoll nations like mine do not have time for paper promises Kabua added Urgent pleas also came from Africa which contributes least to global warming but stands to suffer from it the most In favoring solutions based on the respect for nature were also preserving the health of our peoples said President Issoufou Mahamadou of Niger part of the Sahel region south of the Sahara desert where temperature increases are expected to be 15 times higher than the world averageOur global home that was teeming with millions of species of Godgiven creatures both great and small is slowly dying said Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta who last year noted that his country was the only one in Africa to reach the goal of making renewable energy 75 of its energy mix He added Our world is yearning for us to stop its ruinKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up 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