Fiji needs 5 bln USD to address climate change in next decade

SUVA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Fiji, a South Pacific Island state with a population of more than 880,000, will need 9.3 billion Fijian dollars (about 4.6 billion U.S. dollars) to deal with climate change in the coming 10 years, a Fijian government official said on Monday.

According to Fiji Broadcasting Corporation (FBC), this was said by Fiji's Attorney-General Aiyaz-Sayed Khaiyum while responding to climate change-related questions raised in the Parliament.

As the President of the 23rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23), Fiji is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and the unsustainable exploitation of the oceans.

According to a study released last November in Germany, By 2050, Fiji's annual losses due to extreme weather events could reach 6.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with more than 32,000 people pushed into hardship every year.

Fiji's National Climate Change Policy also says that global sea level changes will more than double by the end of this century. Fiji has since 1993 recorded a 6mm increase in its sea level per year, larger than the global average. The rapid rise of sea levels and the resulting saltwater intrusion that stems from the increased ferocity of coastal floods have made portions of the island nation uninhabitable.

Currently, Fiji has relocated three villages to higher ground, and the country will have another 42 to 43 villages earmarked to be moved to higher ground who have been on coastal areas. Enditem