UN General Assembly
2019

Of all the contributions made and words spoken at the United Nations this week, some of the most thought-provoking, and certainly the most passionate, have come from our young people, inspiring and, sometimes, goading us, as national leaders, to use our power and influence, look beyond our narrow political objectives and think more broadly about the world that they will inherit. A few hours ago, the world’s leading climate scientists, through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), issued a report that adds a new dimension of horror to the world that our children and grandchildren will inherit. They warn that global warming is turning our seas into a huge potential threat to humankind, reporting that global average sea levels could rise by up to 1.1 metres by 2100, in the worst-case warming scenario. This is a rise of 10 centimetres over previous IPCC projections because of the larger ice loss now happening in Antarctica. That is heart-breaking news for tens of thousands of Fijians in our coastal areas and all people in low-lying areas around the world.