- In a pre-recorded speech aired at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe stood in a submerged area that use to be dry land
- Like many of its neighbors, Tuvalu, whose highest point is about 15 feet above sea level, is warning that without international action, it will be become totally submerged
- COVID-19 outbreaks and travel restrictions caused by the pandemic have kept most of their leaders from attending the summit, with the exception of the leaders of Fiji, Palau and Tuvalu
GLASGOW, Scotland: In a pre-recorded speech aired at the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuvalu Foreign Minister Simon Kofe, dressed in a suit and tie with his pant legs rolled up to his knees, stood in a submerged area that use to be dry land.
Waters around Tuvalu, a small island nation in the South Pacific, are rising faster than the global average, at some 0.2 inches per year.
Like many of its neighbors, which are among those most at risk from climate change, Tuvalu, whose highest point is about 15 feet above sea level, is warning that without international action, it will be become totally submerged.
COVID-19 outbreaks and travel restrictions caused by the pandemic have kept most of their leaders from attending the summit, with the exception of the leaders of Fiji, Palau and Tuvalu.
In his speech, Kofe stressed that the eight islands of Tuvalu were “sacred” to its 12,000 people, stating, “They were the home of our ancestors, they are the home of our people today and we want them to remain the home of our people into the future.”
In his speech at the COP26 World Leaders Summit on 2nd November, Palau President Surangel Whipps, Jr. also highlighted the importance of maintaining the average global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.
“Frankly speaking, there is no dignity in a slow and painful death,” he said.
Overall, Pacific island nations have sent fewer high-level government officials and civil society representatives to COP26 than in previous climate summits, a fact that climate activists stressed has made it more difficult to attend every meeting and pressure some of the world’s major polluters, including the U.S. and China.
