Kiribati and China to develop former climate-refuge land in Fiji
President of Kiribati says China will provide ‘technical assistance’ to convert land in Fiji into a working farm to ‘supply produce to Kiribati’
A block of land the government of Kiribati bought in Fiji half a decade ago – ostensibly to serve as a refuge when their country disappeared under a rising ocean – will be transformed into a commercial farm to help feed the i-Kiribati people, with “technical assistance” from China.
The president of Kiribati, Taneti Maamau, announced last week that China would help fulfil his administration’s plan to resume farming on a 22 km sq parcel of land in Fiji, sparking widespread speculation the land would be gifted or sold to China. Maamau has ruled out any military application – “any land or sea base” – for the land.
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#Carbon Footprint
#Climate Change
#Environmental
#Extreme Weather
#Government Policies
#Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Atlantis Viewpoint
Climate change has been identified as a problem since an article published in 1896, warning about the greenhouse effect as a consequence of CO2 emissions. As far back as 1989, a UN report on the greenhouse effect listed Kiribati as one of the countries at risk from rising sea levels. 32 years later, and due to the lack of global reaction to this problem, Kiribati is condemned to disappear under the sea.
Responsible for just 0.6% of world greenhouse gas emissions, Kiribati has publicly asked for policies and initiatives aimed at reducing polluting emissions to be increased. Currently, the problem seems irreversible for this island, as some storm surges cause the sea to invade the land increasingly more often, contaminating freshwater reserves, killing crops and flooding homes. Until now, only the New Zealand government has responded to the needs of Kiribatians, allowing 75 people to migrate to New Zealand per year. In addition, the Kiribati government has been forced to buy lands in Fiji to grow crops and possibly serve as somewhere to evacuate the country's entire population.
The reality is that this problem is not endemic to the Pacific. Kiribati could just be the first domino to fall. If the ice sheets covering Greenland melt completely, sea levels would rise approximately seven meters, and cities like London and Los Angeles would disappear. The problem will remain until the world starts implementing the existing solutions to change our energy systems. True Clean Energy can reduce greenhouse emissions severely and start to put the brakes on global warming. We urgently need governments and economic leaders to rapidly change this situation. Let's see only clean energy plants being built, we want to see some truly ambitious targets!
