Photo: RNZ / Anneke Smith
The New Zealand foreign minister says while a number of Pacific leaders see climate change as a security threat, the most important issue facing their countries is development.
Winston Peters met with a range of Pacific leaders at the recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York. He spoke to Pacific Waves following his return this week.
Peters said he raised his concerns about the Paris Climate Accord with Pacific leaders directly. He also referenced his address at a climate change breakfast he co-chaired with Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo during the Assembly week.
"They're realists, and they could see what I was saying that. If we think we can solve it ourselves, when 60 percent [of emissions] is from four countries, then we're on an engagement with a battle we can't win. That's the real point here."
In New York, Peters captured headlines with his address at the breakfast event.
He told the room the world needed to be "honest and realistic" and face the "elephant in the room" on global emissions. The World Bank Global Director for Climate Change, Valerie Hickey, reportedly said that Peters had "dropped a truth bomb" with the address.
Peters told Pacific Waves that while he accepted that "a number of" Pacific leaders saw climate change as a security threat to the region, he believed sustainable development of Pacific Islands was "what really matters".
In 2018, Pacific Islands Forum nations stated climate change was the biggest threat to the region through the Boe Declaration. Signatories also reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement in the declaration.
"A lot of people talk," Peters said. "A lot of the United Nations talk a lot, but when you ask: 'Well, where's your money?' None of them are putting any money up, but New Zealand's certainly paying its part."
Peters also pointed to $20 million New Zealand pledged last year to the Pacific Resilience Facility - a regional fund targeted at climate and disaster financing for Pacific communities.
