Island countries call for joint work for energy efficiency at UN
27 Sep '06
3 min read
Ministers from a number of small island developing States were joined by other speakers at the United Nations in calling for efforts to combat global warming, achieve energy efficiency and boost trade to protect susceptible countries from environmental and economic shocks.
Petrus Compton, the Foreign Minister of Saint Lucia, said small island developing States everywhere are extremely vulnerable to the impact of climate change. People in the tropics are endangered by sea-level rise while others are faced with “unprecedented and accelerated thawing of ice caps, and the consequent loss of land mass.
The concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has reached “dangerous levels,” he warned, calling for urgent measures to reverse the situation.
“The international community, and in particular our developed partners, need to take more aggressive action to promote the development and distribution of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in developed and developing countries alike,” he added, advocating the establishment of a global renewable energy and energy efficiency fund.
Sato Kilman, the Foreign Minister of Vanuatu, also spotlighted the problem of global warming. “My Government strongly aligns itself with other small island States in urging the international community to reduce emissions,” he said. “The failure of major emitters to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol is a major disappointment.”
He also said that Vanuatu was recently recognized by the “happy planet index” published by the British New Economics Foundation as the happiest place on earth.
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