Palau President urges Pacific nations to continue taking actions to reduce emissions and increase resilience to climate impacts

President Surangel Whipps Jr said Typhoon Surigae’s intensity and surprise trajectory bear signs of climate change effects adding that climate change will continue to be a threat to small island nations in Micronesia.

“This is not the normal time of the year to have typhoon,” Whipps told reporters in a press conference.

“Climate change is here with us and we have to adapt to it,” urging the remaining members of the Pacific Islands Forum to continue the fight against the effects of global warming, despite Micronesia’s exit from the forum.

He said that Palau and the Pacific nations should continue to take actions to reduce emissions and increase resilience to climate impacts.

“We need to live by example,” he said with the Pacific taking a leadership role in the fight against the impact of climate change. 

In the membership of PIF, Whipps said small Pacific island nations are crucial in the fight against climate change on the world stage because they are the most vulnerable.

“We live it every day and we need to take action, locally and do our part, one of those efforts is to try and reduce our greenhouse gas emission… and doing our part to reduce our carbon footprint,” he said. 

He said while he believes that the forum, despite Micronesia leaving the regional groupings should continue to prioritise climate change as a big issue in the Pacific.

Surigae developed from a storm to typhoon by the late evening of April 15, bringing wind gusts up to 80 km/h 90 km/h   to Palau, causing power outages across the island and flooding, mostly in Kayangel.

This story was produced by Bernadette Carreon, published in the Island Times, reposted via PACNEWS.