Minister Wayne Ghemu calls for practical climate mobility action that protects Pacific communities, dignity and choice.
Minister for Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology Wayne Ghemu has called for the international community to move beyond climate mobility principles.
The Solomon Islands Climate Change Minister urged the need to deliver practical action that protects the dignity and choices of communities facing climate threats.
Speaking at the Climate Mobility Champions High-Level Breakfast in New York, Minister Ghemu said climate mobility is already a lived reality for Solomon Islands, with rising seas, coastal erosion and other climate impacts placing increasing pressure on communities.
“For Solomon Islands, climate mobility is not a distant scenario, it is a lived reality for our people,” he said.
He said the impacts extend beyond physical land, affecting homes, ancestral connections, customary land, culture and future generations.
Minister Ghemu called for a broad coalition involving governments, communities, development partners, financial institutions, the United Nations, regional organisations, civil society, traditional leaders, academia and the private sector.
He stressed that affected communities must have a meaningful voice in deciding whether they can safely remain, adapt or move with dignity when remaining is no longer viable.
“Communities must be supported to determine whether they can safely remain, adapt where possible, or move with dignity when remaining is no longer viable,” he said.
Minister Ghemu also called for predictable, accessible and adequate international support.
He highlighted that Solomon Islands and other Pacific island states cannot carry the financial and institutional burden of climate mobility alone.
He said the Climate Mobility Adaptation Agenda provides an opportunity to connect risk anticipation, adaptation, planned relocation and long-term support.
“For Solomon Islands, that is what it means to give life to the Global Principles. To protect dignity, strengthen choices and ensure no community is forced to move because the international system failed to act in time,” he said.
SOURCE// OPMC PRESS RELEASE
