Pacific Island nations will no longer stand for Australia’s inaction on climate change

The inability to meet Pacific Island
expectations on climate change
 will erode Australia’s leadership
credentials and influence in the
region.

The Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Tuvalu this week has ended in open division over climate change. 

Australia ensured its official communique watered down commitments to respond to climate change, gaining a hollow victory. 

Traditionally, communiques capture the consensus reached at the meeting. In this case, the division on display between Australia and the Pacific meant the only commitment is to commission yet another report into what action needs to be taken.

The cost of Australia’s victory is likely to be great, as it questions the sincerity of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s commitment to “step up” engagement in the Pacific.

Read the story from The Conversation by the Head of Department of Politics and Philosophy from La Trobe University, Michael O’Keefe - “Pacific Island nations will no longer stand for Australia’s inaction on climate change.”

Arctic has warmest winter on record: 'It's just crazy, crazy stuff

The Arctic winter has ended with more news that is worrying even the scientists who watch the effects of climate change closely.

Frozen fields on the Lofoten Islands in the Arctic Circle in northern
 Norway. Scientists say conditions in the region are unprecedented.

The region experienced its warmest winter on record. Sea ice hit record lows for the time of year, new US weather data revealed on Tuesday.

“It’s just crazy, crazy stuff,” said Mark Serreze, director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, who has been studying the Arctic since 1982. “These heat waves – I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Experts say what’s happening is unprecedented, part of a global warming-driven cycle that probably played a role in the recent strong, icy storms in Europe and the north-eastern US.

Read the story from The Guardian - “Arctic has warmest winter on record: 'It's just crazy, crazy stuff’.”