The President of Kiribati doesn’t want his people to be seen as climate charity cases – instead, he wants investment, new tourist resorts to give his people jobs, and economic opportunities to help pay for reclaiming land from the sea like Singapore.
As climate change threatens islands, Kiribati’s president plans development
The low-lying Pacific island nation of Kiribati is one of the parts of the world most threatened by climate change and rising sea levels. Scientists say the islands could be uninhabitable within decades, and in recent years, some leaders there have begun planning for a worst-case scenario that could involve relocating the population to other countries.
However, in a video presentation to the international climate conference in Bonn, Germany, last week, the president of Kiribati appeared to be turning away from such a plan.
“Climate change is indeed a serious problem,” President H.E Taneti Maamau said in the video.”But we don’t believe that Kiribati will sink like the Titanic ship. Our country, our beautiful lands, are created by the hands of God.”
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Later in the video, far from discussing abandoning the islands, a narrator instead proclaims the goal of promoting tourism by attracting foreign investors to develop “5-star eco-friendly resorts that would promote world-class diving, fishing and surfing experiences” on currently uninhabited islands.
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Government officials say they are working on a plan to raise the level of a large area of currently uninhabitable land to make it habitable.
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Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-kiribati-president-taneti-maamau/
I can’t find a link to the video – please post in comments if you find it.
I’m really starting to like President Anote Tong. He plays the game to an extent, happy to host and be seen with globe-trotting eco-celebrities, but he has a charming habit of going off script when it comes to climate change.
Anote Tong simply refuses liberal attempts to herd his people onto their allotted lefty intellectual reservation, to play the part of victims of Western greed helplessly waiting for the West to decide their fate.
Read more at Watts up with that
Its November thanksgiving is on Thursday Christmas is just around the corner but the Green Nuts continue to fall from the Green Nut Tree
I admire President Anote Tong’s attitude, however, the sea level rise if it exists at all, isn’t enough to threaten low islands. Islands do disappear but there are other causes such as tides. Man’s activities have been a problem with some islands. If an island is truly threatened, there are steps that can be taken to save it.