PAPE'ETE (Tahiti Infos/ Radio New Zealand International Pacific Media Watch): French Polynesian territorial President Edouard Fritch, along with members of his government, have received representatives of member states of the Polynesian Leaders Group in Tahiti to participate in a conference on climate change.
The members are expected to form an agreement and to create and sign a declaration on their position on climate change, to give the region a common message.
In a speech addressing members, Fritch said the main purpose of the conference was to discuss the "future of our islands and our people".
He added: "I mean climate change and the threats it poses to both our environment, our social cohesion and our prospects for economic development".
A goal of the conference is to allow members of the PLG to adopt a common position on the issues and challenges of climate change and to relay this to the highest levels of the international community at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to be put towards the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, scheduled for Paris from November 30 to December 11.
"The stakes are high this year leading to an agreement to contain global warming below 2 degrees celcius by 2100," said Fritch.
But Fritch believes the countries and territories in Polynesia face different scales and threats of climate change, therefore it was a natural to "join forces" and "speak with one voice" to defend their views and concerns about the dangers posed to them.
Paying the price
Fritch also said the Pacific will be first to pay the price for the international community's inconsistencies.
The PLG was established in 2011 in Apia, Samoa, and is now made up of eight countries, including the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Samoa and Tonga.
The PACT (Polynesia Against Climate Threats) is due to be signed tomorrow at the marae Taputapuatea. This place is particularly symbolic since the marae is the centre of the Polynesian triangle.
As part of the conference, the main findings of a scientific symposium on the vulnerability of the Polynesian islands have been presented this by a research director at the Centre Island Research and Environmental Observatory (CRIOBE).
The symposium was held in Papeete last month and allowed the country to have the latest scientific evidence on the impacts of climate change, especially on low islands and coastal areas of Polynesia.
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