Marshall Islands demand regular UN climate meeting for world leaders

Last week, the Marshall Islands released plans for a UN climate summit of world leaders every five years.

The summit would be based on the 2014 New York summit led by Ban Ki-moon, during which US President Barack Obama introduced a new Climate Pact.

RMI President Hilda Heine said: “These summits should then become a regular fixture every five years as part of the Paris ambition mechanism as countries finish work on their targets for the next cycle.”

She added: “We all saw the impact the [2014] summit had when leaders are put on notice, countries join hands to act together, and civil society mobilizes behind them.”

The UN, after the Paris Climate Deal, will assess the state of climate action in two years, before new emissions reduction pledges expected for 2020.

The government of the Marshall Islands believes that higher emissions reduction targets are to be adopted by 2020 in order to prevent global warming increasing by 3 degrees C by 2100.

The nation’s proposal reads: “Whether or not the ambition mechanism is fully and effectively implemented will ultimately determine whether our island nation, and others like it, survive or perish.”

The nation, a small island, is indeed more exposed to the danger of global warming and climate change.

The Marshall Islands was one of the first countries to ratify the Paris Agreement.