KUALA LUMPUR: Climate change in the Pacific region is the “most serious long-term threat” to the region's future development and survival of its culture and people, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) said on Monday. Kosi Latu, SPREP Deputy Director-general made the assertion of the issue at an annual conference sponsored by the New Life Churches of Fiji on protecting the environment “as God's creation and gift to humankind.” Some 300 delegates were present for the conference. Latu told the conference that “when bigger countries talked about climate change, it was really about changing their economy from being a fossil fuel-based economy to a renewable energy-based economy because the burning of fossil fuels was the primary contributor to climate change. “But for us here in the region, it' s much more than that. It's about our survival,” Latu added. He pointed to the number of Pacific islands that are currently extremely dependent on fossil fuels for their energy and urged the region to look for alternative sources, even though they only contributed to less than a half of one percent of the world's total carbon emissions. “The impact is incredible” and relocation has already happened in some islands in the Pacific, Latu said. “While the impact will vary from country to country, the low lying islands of the Pacific are going to be more affected because they're much more vulnerable.” “Our food systems, our agriculture patterns, even health, our fisheries, infrastructure, water, tourism which we depend on so much — all those sectors of the economy are going to be potentially affected,” he said. “What if the people of Kiribati then decide to relocate to Australia or New Zealand? … What will happen to the land that's under water? These are the kinds of issues that governments need to think about,” Latu questioned.
