TARAWA- The special envoy of the President of Kiribati has confirmed the island nation will ratify the Paris Agreement as soon as the new government has settled down and completed internal procedures including its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) towards a greener and cleaner planet.
Former Kiribati President and current MP for TUC Teburoro Tito made the statement on April 22 at the High-level Signature Ceremony for the Paris Agreement held in New York.
Mr Tito called on major emitters to not only sign and ratify the agreement as early as possible, but to also cut their carbon emissions in order to reduce global temperatures to the agreed 1.5 degrees centigrade target by 2020.
“Kiribati has suffered from much loss and damage from the devastating forces or effects of climate change which has over the past few decades made life for the people of Kiribati more and more difficult and has frustrated the efforts of successive governments to alleviate poverty and to build a viable and sustainable economy for their people,” he said.
“Kiribati cannot wait for the Paris Agreement to come into force.
Mr Tito said the UN must urgently address these existential and survival issues and support the nation-building efforts of countries in the face of climate change like Kiribati.
He reiterated the call on nations that are responsible for climate change to willingly provide sufficient money into the Green Climate Fund and that the fund is readily available for the needs of front-line victim nations such as Kiribati.
