US government committed to share Solomon Islands’ climate change burden
BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO
The United States government says it is fully committed to support Solomon Islands in sharing the unequal burden of climate change.
Non-Resident Ambassador to Solomon Islands Ann Marie Yastishock echoed the above sentiment in a recent press roundtable briefing held in Honiara.
Yastishock said the US government’s third area of focus here in Solomon Islands is climate change which is an existential threat and the US is deeply committed to addressing it.
“We understand that Solomon Islands shares an unequal burden of the consequence of climate change. The US is dedicating to supporting the Solomon Islands needs for improved climate resilient, disaster response, biodiversity, adaptation capacity and renewable energy,” Yastishock said.
She stressed that President Joe Biden’s emphasis on the climate crisis carries deep importance here as Solomon Islands adapts and manages the effects of climate change.
“We stand to support the abundance of natural resources of the Solomon Islands and protect the human economy which depends on the forest for shelter, minerals for critical industries and fish for food,” Yastishock said.
She echoed that Solomon Islands vast mineral resources are essential for the wellbeing of the generations to come.
“And protection of fishing resources today to critical for the legacy of tomorrow to endure. So, these challenges faces are significant.
“I commit to work with the government and people of Solomon Islands to face these challenges together,” Yastishock said.
She furthered that “in addressing climate change there still a lot of work that we need to do on the adaptation portion of it and mitigation, and some of that is bringing in renewable energy as well as looking at resilient infrastructure type of work and even as far as resilient agriculture type of products.
“So again, there is also of work that we need to work together on and figure out how to prioritise these areas,” Yastishock said.
