In a stark warning during his visit to Tonga, UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the imminent threat posed by rising sea levels to Pacific island nations, urging the world to take immediate action before it’s too late. Guterres called on global leaders to heed the science and act decisively to address the climate crisis, which is disproportionately affecting the Pacific region.
Reports Reveal Accelerating Climate Crisis in the Pacific
During the Pacific Islands Forum, the region’s most significant political gathering, Guterres released two critical reports that underscore the severity of the situation. The first report, compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), reveals that sea-surface temperatures in the southwest Pacific have increased three times faster than the global average since 1980. Additionally, the frequency, intensity, and duration of marine heatwaves in the region have roughly doubled during the same period.
The report also detailed the devastating impact of climate change on the region. In 2022 alone, 34 hydrometeorological hazard events, mostly storms and floods, resulted in over 200 deaths and affected more than 25 million people across the southwest Pacific.
New UN Report Warns of Escalating Threats
A second report published by the UN’s climate action team warned that the climate crisis and sea-level rise are no longer distant threats, especially for the Pacific’s small island developing states. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had previously concluded with high confidence in 2021 that global sea levels were rising at rates unprecedented in at least the last 3,000 years due to human-induced global warming. However, the new report, titled Surging Seas in a Warming World, suggests that future sea-level rise could be more significant and occur sooner than previously anticipated, raising alarms among scientists.
Sea-Level Rise: A Unique Threat to Pacific Nations
Sea-level rise, primarily caused by melting land ice and the thermal expansion of seawater, poses a unique and existential threat to Pacific island nations. “It has unparalleled power to cause havoc to coastal cities and ravage coastal economies,” Guterres stated during his remarks in Tonga. He emphasized that Pacific islands are “uniquely exposed” to this threat, with 90% of the population living within 5 kilometers of the coast and about 50% of infrastructure located within 500 meters of the sea.
Guterres painted a grim picture of the future, warning that if global temperatures rise to 3°C above preindustrial levels—as is projected under current policies—Pacific islands could experience at least 15 centimeters of additional sea-level rise by mid-century. This would result in more than 30 days of coastal flooding annually in some areas. “I am in Tonga to issue a global SOS—Save Our Seas—on rising sea levels,” he declared. “This is a crisis entirely of humanity’s making, one that will soon swell to an almost unimaginable scale, with no lifeboat to take us back to safety. But if we save the Pacific, we also save ourselves.”
Call for Global Action Ahead of COP29
As the world prepares for the upcoming COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan this November, Guterres urged global leaders to take bold action by drastically reducing global emissions and pursuing a “fast and fair” phase-out of fossil fuels. He also called for a “massive” increase in financial support for vulnerable countries, stressing the urgent need for a surge in funds to address the rising seas.
Climate Finance: A Key Issue at COP29
The issue of climate finance is expected to be a key agenda item at COP29, particularly with the imminent expiration of the previous commitment by wealthy countries to mobilize $100 billion annually in climate finance. In light of this, an alliance of civil society groups, including ActionAid Australia and Oxfam Australia, has called on Australia to “step up and support our Pacific neighbors on the frontlines of the climate crisis.” The groups urged Australia to declare its support for a new $1 trillion global climate finance goal, arguing that this could prompt other wealthy nations to follow suit.
A new report by these organizations, titled Seizing the Moment: A New Climate Finance Goal that Delivers for the Pacific, criticized Australia for falling short in its climate finance contributions. The report noted that while Australia has committed $3 billion over five years to 2025, this is “well short of its estimated fair share” of the $100 billion goal, which is approximately $4 billion per year in Australian dollars.
Voices from the Pacific: Urgent Need for Support
Rufino Varea, the regional director of the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network, emphasized the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis on Pacific communities, stating, “Pacific communities are enduring some of the world’s worst climate impacts despite contributing the least to the crisis.” Michelle Higelin, executive director of ActionAid Australia, echoed these sentiments, stressing the need for substantial climate finance. “We can’t tinker around the edges when it comes to climate finance. The climate crisis is already pushing Pacific countries into excruciating debt and deepening gender inequality,” Higelin said.
The urgency of the situation is expected to dominate discussions at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting, which will be attended by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is scheduled to arrive in Tonga for the gathering. The regional group brings together Australia, New Zealand, and 16 other Pacific nations, all of whom face the shared challenge of addressing the existential threat posed by rising sea levels.
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