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  • Martina Herzog

Paris. When Claude Emelee is the last to step up to the podium at the Paris Climate Change Conference, the powerful of the world have long since spoken. But it was precisely the deputy prime minister of the small island state of Vanuatu who found words like hardly anyone before him: "When and where can we, as leading politicians, tell our peoples that this (...) Suffering, this sheer madness, these climate atrocities ending?" he asks.

Emelee is a representative of those small island states that will be hit the earliest and most drastically by climate change. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a rise in sea levels of one meter by 2100 is quite possible. This would put a third of the inhabitants of these countries in danger, warns the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).

The economic and political weight of the "little ones" on the world stage may be limited - but as a symbol of the sad consequences of climate change, they have long had powerful supporters. Alden Meyer of the U.S. Association of Concerned Scientists sees a change in the political climate on the subject.

U.S. President Barack Obama, who grew up in Hawaii and Indonesia, among other places, demonstratively stands by her side with the words "I am an island boy". His country wants to contribute 30 million US dollars (about 28 million euros) to insurance against the consequences of climate change. And he warns: "If the pattern of the weather changes, we could have to deal with tens of millions of climate refugees."

It is difficult to estimate how many people have been displaced by climate change so far, explains Mariam Traore Chazalnoel of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). But one thing is clear: "27 million people are displaced every year by disasters related to climate change - that's one person per second." However, the figure only refers to displaced persons within their respective home countries. In addition, "millions more live in places that are becoming uninhabitable due to the effects of climate change: too hot, too cold, too wet or too dry."

For the inhabitants of the islands of Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru, the effects of global warming are already being felt. In a recent survey with the participation of the UN University, a large proportion of households stated that they had already noticed effects such as violent storms, floods, rising sea levels, salinization of freshwater, drought or irregular rainfall. Many see relocation or emigration as the answer if the situation deteriorates - but where should they go in the long run? In Kiribati and Tuvalu, moving within the country is not a solution, according to the authors of the study. The capitals are already hopelessly overpopulated.

Sam Cossar-Gilbert of the environmental organization Friends of the Earth International is calling for more money for adaptation to climate change. If you look at the current negotiations, many people in the Pacific region are at risk of losing their homes. "We don't see enough attention for people who are forced to migrate because of climate change – that's not really on the agenda."

From the point of view of the small island states, the climate treaty, which is to be concluded by the end of next week, must provide sufficient money to compensate for climate damage, especially for small island states. But it is precisely to the demand for such decision-making claims that the industrialized countries react rather coolly.

In addition, limiting global warming to two degrees compared to the pre-industrial era is "completely inadequate," as AOSIS, the Association of States, emphasized in a submission to the conference. It shouldn't be more than 1.5 degrees.

Politician Emelee wants a lot more: a moratorium on fossil fuels and new coal-fired power plants, as well as the rapid decommissioning of existing plants. "Vanuatu has no alternative," he says. "What the profiteers of this earth are doing to the people of Vanuatu is tragic, unacceptable and morally wrong." (dpa)