Seychelles calls on world to ‘wake up’ to climate change

VICTORIA, Seychelles – The president of the Seychelles on Monday, March 16, called on the international community to “wake up” to climate change after a massive tropical cyclone devastated the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.

“The cyclone, which has just struck Vanuatu – a sister Small Island State – with such catastrophic effects and the tragic loss of lives is a clear manifestation of climate change, which some persist to deny,” Seychelles President James Michel said in a statement.

“Today it is the South Pacific, tomorrow it could be us,” the leader of the low-lying Indian Ocean archipelago warned, adding that “the thoughts and prayers of the Seychellois people are with Vanuatu in these darkest of moments”.

“When will the international community wake up to reality and put our efforts and resources to get a binding agreement to reduce global warming and sustain the survival of our planet?” he added.

In November last year, President Michel urged the planet’s small island nations to unite for an unprecedented campaign against climate change or else be treated as global “bystanders” and be allowed to drown.

Low-lying island nations, some of which are little more than one meter (three feet) above sea level, are regarded as some of the most vulnerable to rising seas blamed on man-made climate change.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam tore through Vanuatu on Friday night, packing wind gusts of up to 320 kilometers (200 miles) an hour. Vanuatu’s president said Monday the Pacific nation had been “completely destroyed” and pleaded with the world to help it rebuild. – Rappler.com