Pacific climate advocate Fenton Lutunatabua says commitments towards global electrification will only help keep the 1.5-degree target alive if they are powered by renewable energy rather than fossil fuels.
Mr Lutunatabua, 350.org Pacific and Caribbean Program Manager, made the comments following the conclusion of Pre-COP31 in Fiji, where regional climate priorities were placed before international leaders.
“Leaders have come to the Pacific and witnessed the extent of the fossil-fueled climate crisis,” Mr Lutunatabua said.
“They now carry that mantle of witness-bearing and accountability into COP31. But they also carry the standard that we’ve set as a region on a path away from fossil fuels.”
He welcomed commitments by the COP31 co-presidency towards a global electrification goal but said the source of that electricity was critical.
“We commend the commitments of the co-presidency to the global electrification goal but maintain that any hope of keeping 1.5 degrees alive requires this goal be built by renewables, not the broken, expensive systems of the past.”
Mr Lutunatabua said Pacific communities had been highlighting the scientific evidence and consequences of climate change for decades.
“There is unequivocal science, echoed for decades by Pacific people, that proves this is what is required of us,” he said.
“COP31 must be where you act on all of the evidence provided.”
He said attention would now turn to whether commitments made around implementation translated into action at COP31.
“We hope Australia and Türkiye live up to their ‘implementation’ promises, not only for the sake of the Pacific, but for the sake of our collective futures.”
