Coastal infrastructureLow-lying island nations say rising seas levels spell doom

Published 17 November 2014

The president of the Seychelles on last week urged the Earth’s small island nations to unite for a campaign against climate change — or else drown. The call came at the start of a two-day summit of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a coalition of small islands and low-lying coastal countries, ahead of global climate talks which will take place in Lima, Peru, in December. Low-lying island nations, some of which are little more than one meter (three feet) above sea level, are regarded as among the most vulnerable to rising sea levels, which is one of the manifestations of global warming.

The president of the Seychelles on last week urged the Earth’s small island nations to unite for a campaign against climate change — or else drown.

The call came at the start of a two-day summit of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a coalition of small islands and low-lying coastal countries, ahead of global climate talks which will take place in Lima, Peru, in December.

Too often the world has chosen to ignore us. Too often we are treated as bystanders,” said Seychelles president James Michel, whose Indian Ocean island nation is hosting the AOSIS meeting.

Let us be heard on every beach and every roadside. Let us be heard in Beijing, in Delhi, in Johannesburg, in London, in Moscow, in New York, in Paris, in Rio. Let us be heard in every village, in every town, in every city of the world. Let us be heard on the airwaves,” he said.

We cannot accept that climate change be treated as an inevitability. We cannot accept that any island be lost to sea level rise. We cannot accept that our islands be submerged by the rising oceans.”

Yahoo News reports that low-lying island nations, some of which are little more than one meter (three feet) above sea level, are regarded as among the most vulnerable to rising sea levels, which is one of the manifestations of global warming.

Some small states in the Pacific such as Kiribati have already begun examining options for their people if climate change forces them from their homeland.

Climate change is the greatest threat of our time,” Michel said, saying that on the face of it the alliance appeared powerless.

We do not have the economic means to build sophisticated defenses. We do not have the latest technology to better adapt to the problem… nor do we have the economic might to apply sanctions on those most guilty of causing the problem,” he said.

But we have something that is invaluable, something that is powerful: we are the conscience of these negotiations. We stand as the defenders of the moral rights of every citizen of our planet.”

Next month UN climate talks in Lima will be in preparation for a December 2015 pact in Paris to limit warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

Under the lowest of four emissions scenarios given by UN experts on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global average temperatures over this century are likely to rise by 0.3-1.7 degrees Celsius (0.5-3.1 degrees Fahrenheit), leading to a sea level rise of between 26-55 centimeters (about 10-22 inches).

Under the highest scenario, warming would be 2.6-4.8 Celsius, causing a sea-level rise of 45-82 centimeters.