‘Less talk, more action’

PRIME Minister James Marape says there must be less talk and more action on climate change by industrialised nations.
He stated this firmly in New York City yesterday when addressing a virtual Pacific islands’ roundtable meeting at the invitation of United States’ president’s special envoy for climate John Kerry and under secretary of state Victoria Nuland.
Kerry concurred with Marape, saying: “I understand your frustration and we all feel it.
“I am as tired of the rhetoric as you are.
“We need action.”
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the United Nations’ General Assembly (UNGA) which Marape will address today and tomorrow.
Marape arrived in New York yesterday after an 18-hour flight from Singapore and went straight into business, meeting first with COP26 president Alok Sharma to discuss the COP26 climate change agenda, and then addressing the virtual meeting.
He told Kerry: “I feel that we’ve been talking too much on these sorts of issues (climate change).
“Pacific nations are feeling the real effects of climate change, islands are being lost, sea level is rising and sometimes, these sorts of conversations keep on going on.
“We are the least, in terms of our carbon footprint on the face of Earth, yet, we are the most-affected.”
Marape commended the leadership of United States President Joe Biden and Kerry in addressing the climate change issue.
“The industrialised nations must take the lead, step out and assist us in finding solutions instead of continuing to go on and on in the circle of conversation (on climate change),” he said.
“We must take stock of where we are in as far as our commitment to climate change issues are concerned.”
Marape said he was happy to see Biden address the issue in his address to the UNGA.
He said Biden’s address showed that the US was taking the lead in addressing the climate change issue.
“For us in the Pacific, where many small island states are, this is no academic conversation,” he said.
“This is life-threatening for us.
“Our small island states are exposed and vulnerable to this issue.”