COP26 Speech by the Foreign Minister of Tuvalu

At COP26, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31, the Foreign Minister of Tuvalu, a small island nation in the South Pacific, delivered a shocking speech to the world. Ahead of COP15 in 2009, the Maldivian government in the Indian Ocean held a ministerial meeting underwater, and in 2019, President Shaychelles gave a speech at a depth of 122m. The foreign minister’s speech here, calling for one of the world’s lowest-emissions countries, to disappear first if we don’t stop warming, may be the most impressive I’ve ever seen.

He said Tuvalu is sinking into the sea, but it’s the same for everyone, he said, not a political story, but a message to the international community from the 12,000 people living on the eight islands. In addition, he emphasized that if it is possible to achieve carbon neutrality by the middle of this century, there is a possibility that the temperature rise at the end of this century will be suppressed to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius based on the industrial revolution standard, and that a rapid provision of a climate fund for losses and damages caused by climate change is necessary. did.

Tuvalu is compared to a canary in a coal mine, an early warning of an approaching danger. Most of Tuvalu is less than 1m above sea level, and water for daily use such as drinking water is supplied by a marine freshwater lens, a system that divides seawater and freshwater by specific gravity.

Sea level rise due to climate change is caused by the melting of ice on land and thermal expansion due to the rise in sea water temperature. If you think about it this way, you can say that Tuvalu is not sinking, but is being swallowed up by the sea. Small island countries such as Tuvalu have so far set a target of 1.5 degrees in the COP26 Glasgow climate agreement in the climate change negotiations. They keep complaining that they may not be able to live in a few decades. As he said, achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 is becoming increasingly important in order to reach the sub-1.5 degree goal.

Developing countries that are severely impacted not only by achieving the target of less than 1.5 degrees Celsius, but also because they emit low greenhouse gas emissions, the cause of climate change, and do not have the economic power to adapt, also demand the aforementioned compensation for the wealthy large emitters who make a profit while creating the cause of climate change. are doing

Countries that are likely to be submerged in the sea, such as Tuvalu, are considering buying land and moving to another country. In his speech, he also talks about the economic rights of the maritime boundary that Tuvalu currently has, maintenance after migration, and digital nationalization by the scattered people. It also mentions that Tuvalu plays a role in protecting the people and the planet.

According to the 6th IPCC report, even if the global average temperature rise is suppressed by 1.5 degrees Celsius, there is a possibility that the global average sea level will rise by 2 to 3 m after 2000 and by 6 to 7 m after 10,000 years. The report also says that temperatures may rise by 1.5 degrees Celsius in the early 2030s. Related information can be found here.