𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

1 December 2023

Dubai UAE – Nature, people, lives and livelihoods must be at the heart of climate action. That was the message from the King of Tonga, His Majesty King Tupou VI, to world leaders and delegates at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP28) in Dubai, UAE.

His Majesty King Tupou VI was the first Pacific leader to address the High-Level plenary at the World Climate Action Summit at COP28 and reminded the meeting about the lived reality of the climate crisis for Pacific countries.

“The far-reaching impacts of climate change and disasters on human security and mobility displaces more than 50,000 Pacific people every year, due to climate and disaster related events,” His Majesty King Tupou VI said.

“It is painful for the people of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to see that COP28 may not be the milestone moment we had all been hoping for because our slow progress on the Paris Agreement.”

The Kingdom of Tonga is amongst Pacific countries at the immediate forefront of climate change impacts where cyclones, earthquakes, flooding, volcanic eruptions, storm surges, droughts and tsunamis, amongst other weather-related calamities, is their ‘lived reality.’