Key facts
- Countries must urgently scale up commitments to keep temperature rises within 1.5C to limit extreme weather impacts.
- Deep, rapid, and sustained emissions reductions are required to minimize overshoot of the 1.5C target.
- Tuvalu's sea levels have risen about 15 cm (6 inches) in the three decades to 2023, twice the global average.
- The 2015 Paris Agreement committed governments to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
- The UN's environmental body warned last month that the world would exceed the 1.5C threshold within a few years.
Nations meeting in Fiji and Tuvalu ahead of the UN's COP31 climate summit have warned that urgent and significant action is needed to curb global warming and prevent irreversible damage. A statement released Tuesday from the ministerial meeting emphasized the necessity of "deep, rapid and sustained emissions reductions" to keep temperature rises within the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) target outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The conference highlighted the immediate threats faced by climate-vulnerable communities, particularly Pacific island nations, from rising sea levels and extreme weather events. According to NASA researchers, Tuvalu has experienced sea level rise of approximately 15 cm (6 inches) over the past three decades, a rate twice the global average. The UN's environmental body has previously warned that the world is on track to exceed the 1.5C threshold within the next few years.
The pre-COP31 gathering also reaffirmed the importance of maintaining national sovereignty and maritime zones under international law, even as coastlines are reshaped by climate change. Australia and its Pacific partners are collaborating through the COP31 Pacific Partnership to ensure that regional voices and solutions are central to the upcoming global climate forum.