Marshall Islands warns 'the world we know is over' at Cop31
Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine told heads of state at the Cop31 leaders' summit in Turkey that, without an overwhelming response to the threat of overshoot, "the world we know is over," according to The Guardian.
Cop31 is the UN climate conference, and Turkey is co-hosting it with Australia. Overshoot refers to the risk of global warming passing the 1.5C temperature target set under the Paris climate agreement. Heine said that overshooting that target would mean waves eating away at shores and floods destroying towns, schools and hospitals.
Her remarks focused on fossil fuels. She said every new oil well drilled and every piece of coal extracted threatens her country's future. She described the discovery of new fossil fuel resources as "not something to celebrate but something to fear."
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, speaking at the same summit, celebrated the discovery of two new oilfields with an estimated in-situ potential of 135 million barrels. In-situ potential means the amount of oil estimated to be in the ground.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley cited United Nations projections of 2.6 degrees of warming even if every pledge is delivered, and 2.8 degrees on current policies.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a windfall tax, a levy on unusually large profits, on oil and gas companies' bumper profits from the Iran war. He said the money should help vulnerable countries recover.
