Speaking to Rudaw’s Sinan Tuncdemir on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York, Simon Kilepa, Papua New Guinea’s Minister of Environment, Conservation and Climate Change, touched on the adverse impact the global phenomenon has had on his country.
“I come from an island country, and climate change has really affected our country due to sea level rising which has taken the majority of our coastlines underwater and we are starting to relocate the people inland, because most of the land has been taken up by the ocean now,” said Kilepa.
Papua New Guinea is prone to natural disasters including flash flooding, extreme rainfall, drought, and landslides, some of which are set to intensify in the upcoming years. A 2021 World Bank Group report projected that the number of people affected by river flooding and its economic damages were set to double by 2030.
“Everyone is looking to, at least, secure a better life for themselves and hopefully secure a better life for their children as well. So, climate change has been the big issue why people are migrating to better countries,” he added.
The high-level week of the 78th annual UNGA commenced on Tuesday and will continue through next week. Hundreds of world leaders and delegates have gathered in New York to attend the event, with around 150 heads of states and governments set to deliver speeches.
The theme of this year’s summit is “Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all.”
