The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres [3rd from left]

The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres was impassioned with his remarks on the urgency of the fight against climate change.

Holding deliberations with the Heads of State and their respective envoys from fifteen Pacific Island Countries, Guterres reaffirmed the UN’s position of solidarity.

“The Pacific Islands States have the moral authority to tell the world that climate change needs to be reversed because the Pacific Island States are leading by example.”

Facilitated by the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat, the Forum Chair and President of Nauru, Baron Waqa used the opportunity to call on global leaders to take action, rather than continue to talk about it.

“Act for all of us, act for our children and their children, act for our future. Let us come together to save our Blue Planet. This must be our legacy.”

Meanwhile, the UNSG is in the Pacific for the first time to ramp up global efforts in the fight against climate change and also to build consensus on the actions required going forward.

The UNSG will host a climate action summit in New York in September which is expected to be a game changer in how countries tackle climate change in the future.