Despite contributing just 0.02% of total greenhouse gas emissions, Pacific Island states are drowning in the consequences of others’ actions. Credit: UNICEF/Sokhin

By Ralph Regenvanu
PORT VILA, Vanuatu, Nov 29 2024 (IPS)

The climate crisis has become devastating across the world over the past few months: super typhoons sweeping through the Western Pacific, unprecedented superstorms in the Gulf of Mexico, raging wildfires across the Amazon rainforest, severe flooding in Central and Eastern Europe, just to mention a few. Rising seas and intensifying storms threaten to devastate communities and erase entire countries from the map.

For countries on the front line, like Vanuatu, urgent action to halt warming is essential. In the first part of 2023, we were struck by two category 4 cyclones within days of each other. In October of the same year, another category 4 storm struck our islands.

In the face of such slow progress, Vanuatu has led an initiative to speed up climate action. We took the climate crisis to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest court

This current year has been easier but the sea levels are still rising all the same and Vanuatu is projected to lose 25% of its gross domestic product (GDP) every year due to climate disasters. All the while, those responsible for the crisis continue to delay and resist the solutions that we already have at hand.

In 2015 the Paris Agreement set the course for governments to protect people and the planet and hold global warming to 1.5⁰C. The deal has led to some actions but, so far, no country is on track to meet this goal and only 10 countries are projected to come close.

The needs of countries that benefited the least from the past few centuries of uncurbed emissions have been sidelined as wealthier countries have not prioritised the emissions reductions needed.

Despite contributing just 0.02% of total greenhouse gas emissions, Pacific Island states are drowning in the consequences of others’ actions. A decade after Paris, governments like mine are still trying to prevent further harm while repairing the loss and damage that has already occurred.

In the face of such slow progress, Vanuatu has led an initiative to speed up climate action. We took the climate crisis to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the world’s highest court.

Hon. Ralph Regenvanu

For the first time, the Court will confront the climate crisis, and is now tasked with preparing a new set of guidelines – a compass – to establish the obligations of countries to take action on climate change based on existing international laws. Its advisory opinion could overcome the political inertia that has delayed the lifesaving action we need.

This is the moment for the international justice system to require countries to recognise and correct the injustices of the climate crisis; acknowledging how carbon emissions are driving deadly weather events, and how polluting countries have failed to prevent the disasters that now plague us.

After the most recent round of U.N. climate change talks, a gap of USD 1 trillion gap needs to be closed between what poorer countries need and what wealthy countries are currently contributing to climate funding, to cover the costs of damages and the costs of preparation for the future impacts of the climate crisis.

The International Court of Justice gives us a platform where we, small island states, could finally overcome the power of wealthy countries, with the authority of international law to finally drive just climate action.

People around the world back this shift: 80% of citizens worldwide want more ambitious climate action to repair and revive our world. This is our chance to work together for a safe and healthy planet.

We do not yet know how the Court will decide. Some of the richest and most polluting countries would prefer not to be held accountable for deadly inaction.

For the Court to form a lifesaving opinion, countries must deliver powerful statements; their participation will be an important step in advocating for the ICJ’s guiding opinion. By collectively laying down the facts, we will be able to bridge the gap between countries’ current commitments and what is needed to restore and protect our homes.

For those of us overwhelmed by the impacts of the climate crisis, a strong ruling from the ICJ would offer hope. This opinion has the potential to become the most comprehensive tool to hold those responsible for the climate crisis accountable and help us restore what has already been lost.

Countries must own up to their responsibility. That means phasing out fossil fuel use, speeding up emissions cuts and paying for the damages that have already occurred due to their heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

I am confident that the ICJ’s opinion will become the guiding star to achieve this. The world needs governments, corporations and all major emitters to rise to the challenge of halting the climate crisis.

Whether we fail or succeed in navigating the oceans of global warming will determine the future of Vanuatu and all of us suffering from this crisis, those of us alive today and those yet to be born. Our children and grandchildren deserve to inherit a world where their rights and livelihoods are protected, not eroded by the reckless actions of previous generations. Now is the time for action.

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There are an estimated 13,000 pieces of plastic litter afloat every single square kilometer of ocean. Credit: Bo Eide Snemann/CC-BY-2.0

By Ralph Regenvanu
PORT VILA, Aug 21 2018 (IPS)

Cradled in the South Pacific, my home country Vanuatu is made mostly of ocean.  The Pacific covers 98 percent of the national jurisdiction. Here, some 280,000 Ni-Vanuatu like myself live simply off the land and sea.  We view the ocean as a living ‘bridge’ that connects islands and continents while sustaining life in all its forms. Where we come from, the ocean has a heartbeat.

So when scientists collected nearly 24,000 pieces of non-biodegradable trash on the beaches of the capital city Port Vila last August, it was a harsh reality check for us all. A tally of more than 4,400 plastic bags, 3,000 food wrappers, 4,400 plastic and foam packages, 2,600 beverage cans and 2,100 plastic drinking bottles showed that the addiction to cheap, convenient plastics had crept onto our shores and into our lives. The debris was choking marine life, slowly poisoning fish (and those who eat them) and negatively affecting tourism.

Ralph Regenvanu, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vanuatu

To save our oceans, the country had to take swift and decisive action.

Last month, Vanuatu became one of the first in the world to implement a ban on single use plastic bags, straws and polystyrene food containers. The Government announced the new rules in January, prohibiting the importation and manufacturing of certain non-biodegradable plastic products, followed by a six-month grace period so local businesses and manufacturers could use up supplies.

Alternatives were developed. Traditional natural fibre baskets took the place of plastic bags. Home-grown innovators such as Tom Yaken created community water taps using bamboo instead of the usual plastic pipes. We were guided by a National Ocean Policy for sustainable ocean management, framed around the traditional ‘Nakamal’ – the customary Ni-Vanuatu institution for governance.

A medium and long-term communication strategy is being put in place to begin the discussion on how to achieve lasting change in the age of plastic.

Looking at the region, I am proud that other Pacific ‘big ocean states’ are also rallying against the curse of marine plastic pollution. Samoa recently announced plans to ban all single-use plastic bags and straws by January 2019. New Zealand made a similar pledge to phase out single-use plastics over the next year. Meanwhile, island countries such as Palau, the Marshall Islands, Northern Marianas, Guam, and parts of the Federated States of Micronesia have all outlawed single use plastic shopping bags. Fiji and Tonga have levy systems in place to discourage plastic bag use.

But even beyond the Pacific, the momentum towards a major global transition has never before been so great.

In April, at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London, 53 countries made a joint commitment to preserve the health of the ocean, recognising its role in sustaining life on our planet.  Under the Commonwealth ‘Blue Charter’, Vanuatu and the United Kingdom stepped forward as ‘champion countries’ to tackle marine plastic pollution.

It is a pressing global issue – scientists predict that if current trends continue, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. Even now, the accumulation of trash floating in the Northern Pacific Ocean (commonly known as the ‘Great Pacific Garbage Patch’) spans an area three times the size of France and is estimated to weigh 80,000 tonnes – equivalent to 500 jumbo jets. The effects are dire for marine ecosystems, ocean economies and human life, and demand a global response.

Fortunately, the vast majority of Commonwealth countries are island or coastal states (just seven are landlocked).  There is huge potential for resources and good practices to be shared, refined and scaled across the Commonwealth, and with the rest of the world.

My own hope is that all 53 leaders who signed on to the Commonwealth Blue Charter commit to concrete steps to address plastic waste in their countries. We have a remarkable opportunity to jointly make improvements to our planet, and it must not be missed.

Vanuatu’s journey so far has been instructive. I am confident that between traditional marine resource management practices and new knowledge and innovations, solutions to the plastic problem are available, or ready to be discovered. It just takes leadership.

Pacific Island countries like Vanuatu have already shown themselves to be ready and willing.

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