No country can be spared impact of climate change: Fijian PM

Source: Xinhua| 2017-09-11 15:04:47|Editor: An
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SUVA, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Fijian Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said on Monday that no country in the world can be spared the impact of climate change and industrialized countries should be put into action to reduce carbon emissions.

Speaking in the parliament, Bainimarama, whose country is currently chair of the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said he had taken up the responsibility because no corner of the planet would be spared the fury of climate change, and climate-vulnerable people around the world were crying out for help.

"If we are to avoid events like Cyclone Winston, and Hurricane Harvey and Irma, then we need to put the industrialized world into action to reduce carbon emissions and spare us from the worst effects of climate change," he said.

"Given the extreme threat we faced, Fijians should not make Fiji's Presidency a political issue," he said, adding that "this is not a fight for any one party or any one community, it is a fight for Fiji, the Pacific and every nation on earth."

The prime minister also confirmed that in late September, Fiji would hold a weekend of prayer for the COP23 Presidency through the churches, mosques and temples, and he hoped to see as many people in attendance as possible.

According to Bainimarama, he will travel to Montreal, Canada, on Tuesday to attend a ministerial dialogue on climate action and meet with the Canadian leadership to rally support for COP23.

He will then go on to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he will attend the UN Climate Week and meet some of the world's most influential leaders of business, states and cities to discuss opportunities in clean economic growth, and attend a leader's dialogue on climate action.

The COP23 will take place on Nov. 6-17 in Bonn, Germany.

The 2017 Ministerial Dialogue, known as Pre-COP, will be held in Nadi, a city of Fiji, on Oct. 17-18. It is designed primarily as a series of closed sessions for political leaders and key advisers.

The objective of the Pre-COP is to allow the leaders of member parties to frankly exchange views of key political deliverables, rather than technical details, for the upcoming COP23.

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