Times of India: World Environment Day may have been celebrated across the planet with some fanfare and lots of tree planting on Thursday but it was put in perspective by Anote Tong, president of the small Pacific Ocean nation of Kiribati comprising 32 atolls, when he issued a plaintive appeal to global leaders to save his country from disappearing from the face of the earth.
Kiribati will be one of the first nations to suffer consequences of climate change and a resultant rise in sea levels. "None of the atolls that make up our country are more than two metres above sea level. We will be submerged by the end of the century, as things stand right now," Tong said at a WED 2008 meeting in Wellington, which was the host city for this important date on the UN calendar.
Even as the world is caught up in finger-pointing and debating on how to combat climate change, Tong stressed that it was a no-brainer for his country and others like the low-lying Pacific Ocean states and the Maldives. "In time, the islands will be submerged. But what happens before that is equally devastating. Entire villages are being relocated as the sea encroaches upon the land. People are being asked to move from places that have been home for them. It’s a human tragedy," Tong said….
Flag of Kiribati, rendered by "SKopp," Wikimedia Commons
Times of India: World Environment Day may have been celebrated across the planet with some fanfare and lots of tree planting on Thursday but it was put in perspective by Anote Tong, president of the small Pacific Ocean nation of Kiribati comprising 32 atolls, when he issued a plaintive appeal to global leaders to save his country from disappearing from the face of the earth.
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