Greenpeace Media Statement On Tropical Cyclone Yasa

Thursday, 17 December 2020, 7:32 pm
Press Release: Greenpeace

“Cyclone Yasa has been turbocharged by the mining and burning of coal, oil and gas by countries like Australia. Climate change is intensifying extreme weather events that are devastating the Pacific and parts of Australia right now.

“This is what Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama warned about when he said that Pacific nations would not be the sacrificial canary in the coal mine for high-emitting coal-burning countries like Australia. [1]

“If Scott Morrison and the leaders of other high-emitting countries like Australia don’t take stronger climate action on coal, oil and gas we will see more and more extreme weather events like this in the future.

“Greenpeace’s recent report Te Mana O Te Moana: State of the Climate in the Pacific 2020 shows that the Pacific has contributed less than a fifth of a percent to global carbon emissions, yet is paying the price for decades of heavy carbon emissions by countries like Australia. [2]

“It’s time for high-emitting countries like Australia to commit to net-zero emissions by 2040 and dramatically ramp up ambition in the interim to help protect its own people and those in the Pacific from extreme weather events.”

--- Greenpeace Head of Pacific, Joseph Moeono-Kolio.

[1] https://www.sbs.com.au/news/fiji-s-pm-refuses-to-let-the-pacific-be-the-sacrificial-canary-for-coal-burning-countries

[2] https://act.greenpeace.org.au/pacific-climate-report

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