UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- President of the Federated States of Micronesia David W. Panuelo said on Friday that climate change is his country's single greatest long-term security threat, calling on the international community to transition to sustainable and renewable energy.
"For our nation, climate change is our single greatest long-term security threat. Rising waters threaten to make life in remote atolls impossible. Higher temperatures threaten crops, livestock, and fish," said the president of Micronesia, a subregion of Oceania, composed of thousands of small islands in the western Pacific Ocean.
"All countries and peoples are in a global war against climate change. We have witnessed deadly fires in the U.S., typhoons in the Caribbean and in the Pacific, and floods in Asia. It is a war that we can win, but we must be much more aggressive in combatting it," he said.
"The world must transition to sustainable and renewable energy. Coal and natural gas are unsustainable solutions for the environment and are harmful to both economic growth and equality of opportunity. If our world is to fulfill its commitments under the Paris Agreement, all nations must make a unified and global effort," he added.
"We have seen, through the Montreal Protocol, that 98 percent of ozone depleting substances have been phased out by the global community. We can succeed if we work together. It is both possible and essential to improve our quality of life while also being responsible stewards of our planet," said Panuelo.
The president also urged the international community to embrace the spirit of solidarity.
"We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters across the world. All human life is priceless and valuable. Empathy is not weakness. Empathy is courage, and empathy is strength. Through empathy, our global community can overcome any challenge, from COVID-19 to climate change," said the president. Enditem
