New York - The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday asked UN organizations to intensify efforts to assist small islands that are already feeling the adverse effects of global warming, including flooding.
The 192-nation assembly adopted a resolution to address the issue of possible security implications created by climate change.
'As the rest of the world continues to debate the security implications of climate change, for our peoples the problem is astoundingly real,' said Nauru's UN Ambassador Marlene Moses. Nauru is an island in the Pacific, and also represents 11 small islands.
Moses said people on those islands have nowhere to go to as sea levels rise.
'For some, the only viable option is to migrate,' she said. 'While many have already relocated, more are expected to follow as more of our islands will eventually submerge.'
Moses spoke on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Development States (PSIDS), which comprise Nauru, Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Tonga and Vanuatu. Some of the islands have a surface of just 21 square kilometres.
The implications include loss of land and territorial sovereignty, deaths, while flooding or drought has resulted in loss of crops and safe drinking water.
'We will suffer now or later,' Moses said of the PSIDS. 'No country is immune from the impacts of climate change and the smallest of the group will be the first.'
Ambassador Joan Yang of Palau said fresh water resources were becoming saline while fields of taro, a staple, were being inundated by the rising tides.
'Our culture, which has thrived, developed and endured since the times of Homer and the ancient Greeks, faces the real possibility of being wiped out,' Yang said.
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