Fiji committed to reducing carbon emissions by 30 pct by 2030

Fiji is committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 30 percent by the year 2030, Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama said on Tuesday.

The announcement was made while Bainimarama was attending the opening ceremony of a hydro project near the capital of Suva, when the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21), also known as the 2015 Paris climate conference, is only less than a month away.

"Fiji is committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2030. I repeat, 30 percent over the next 15 years from business as usual, an internationally accepted benchmark that is being used by all the island nations and a number of bigger countries such as (South) Korea and Indonesia," Bainimarama said.

"How are we going to do it? By drastically reducing carbon emissions in our energy sector. By 2030, we intend to generate 99 percent of our electricity needs from renewable sources such as water or the sun, up from around 60 percent in 2013. Which is why the project I am launching today and others like it are so important for our nation's future," he added.

While Fiji's total share of global emissions is only 0.004 percent, the Pacific island country is "still prepared to share the responsibility" with the rest of the world, the prime minister said, calling on industrialized nations to drastically cut carbon emissions. Enditem