PORT VILA, Vanuatu, Nov 29 (IPS) – Ralph Regenvanu, Special Envoy for Climate Change and Environment of the Republic of VanuatuThe 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.
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.
