- Title: Ministers of Pacific Islands urge Trump to review stance on climate change
- Date: 17th January 2017
- Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (JANUARY 17, 2017) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF IIKURA GUEST HOUSE DELEGATES FROM COUNTRIES OF FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA (FSM) AND JAPAN STANDING FOR GROUP PHOTO SIGN READING (English): "PALM Third Ministerial Interim Meeting" FOREIGN MINISTER OF FSM, LORIN ROBERT (LEFT) AND JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER, FUMIO KISHIDA (RIGHT), STANDING NEW ZEALAND AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN, STEPHEN PAYTON, STANDING SAMOAN PRIME MINISTER, TUILAEPA SAILELE, STANDING FIJIAN EMPLOYMENT MINISTER, JONE USAMATE, STANDING DELEGATES STANDING FOR GROUP PHOTO DELEGATES WALKING OFF ROBERT AND KISHIDA STANDING AT PODIUM FOR JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOREIGN MINISTER OF FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA (FSM), LORIN ROBERT, SAYING: "I hope that the next president of the United States will have different view in a matter of days when he takes his office because I know in his heart he will have an appreciation what Pacific Islanders are all about." CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOREIGN MINISTER OF FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA (FSM), LORIN ROBERT, SAYING: "We are in the front-line for climate change." CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOREIGN MINISTER OF FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA (FSM), LORIN ROBERT, SAYING: "But I can see the trend throughout the world, and especially for our friends from Europe, we have taken a very strong leadership role in not only assisting us but most importantly in appreciating our situation in respect to climate change." ROBERT SHAKING HANDS WITH KISHIDA / DELEGATES WALKING OFF
- Embargoed: 31st January 2017 09:27
- Keywords: Trump Japan Pacific Islands Donald Trump climate change threat weather Micronesians environment
- Location: TOKYO, JAPAN
- City: TOKYO, JAPAN
- Country: Japan
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZGXJD1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Pacific Island ministers urged U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to greater appreciate the threat climate changes poses for Micronesians, in a forum jointly held with Japan on Tuesday (January 17).
Trump, who will take office on January 20, has dismissed the idea of man-made climate change as a hoax and several department chief nominees in his incoming administration have rejected evidence of the risks.
Ministers of the 16-country Pacific Island Forum (PIF) expressed concern about the impact a Trump administration could have on their fight against global warming.
"I hope that the next president of the United States will have different view in a matter of days when he takes his office because I know in his heart he will have an appreciation what Pacific Islanders are all about," said the foreign minister of Micronesia, Lorin Robert, who co-chaired the Japan-PIF Ministerial Interim Meeting on Tuesday, in a joint news conference with his counterpart Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.
"We are in the front-line for climate change," Robert added.
The Pacific region is home to low-lying island states on the front lines of storm surges, disruptions to rainfall and a creeping rise in sea levels. PIF includes Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
In December, Trump named former Texas Governor Rick Perry, a climate change skeptic with close ties to the oil industry, the upcoming head of the U.S. Department of Energy.
The choice adds to a list of drilling proponents who have been tapped for top jobs in Trump's administration, worrying environmental groups concerned by the U.S. role in global climate change.
Trump has also said he wants to extract the United States from the 2015 Paris Agreement, which formally started on November 4, 2016.
Robert, however, said the international effort to slow climate change is continuing, especially in Europe.
"But I can see the trend throughout the world, and especially for our friends from Europe, we have taken a very strong leadership role in not only assisting us but most importantly in appreciating our situation in respect to climate change," he said.
Leaders of Japan and Pacific island countries have been gathering in Japanese cities every three years since 1996 to strengthen ties in economic matters and disaster prevention. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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