Surangel Whipps Jr., president of the Pacific island nation of Palau, reprimanded the leaders of wealthy countries, telling the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters: "You might as well bomb our islands."
"We see the scorching sun is giving us intolerable heat, the warming sea is invading us, and the winds are blowing us every which way," Whipps said. "Our resources are disappearing before our eyes and our future is being robbed from us." he then went on to say, "Frankly speaking, there is no dignity to a slow and painful death—you might as well bomb our islands instead of making us suffer only to witness our slow and fateful demise."
According to Whipps, there are similarities between the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency and a Palau legend in which a boy with a voracious appetite turns into a giant who "wouldn't stop growing."
"Due to his unruly appetite," Whipps told the summit audience, "the whole island community was forced to feed him... depleting all the natural resources."
When the giant boy attempted to eat them, the islanders "banded together, took bold action, and set fire to him," the president explained, describing the tale as "eerily reminiscent" of the present dilemma. "Large emitters with their insatiable appetite for advancement are continuing to abuse our environment, threatening our very survival," said Whipps. "COP26 must light the fire."
The president of Palau said that "devastated" island nations demand cooperative and transformative interventions.
"Leaders of the G20, we are drowning and our only hope is the life-ring you are holding," he added. "You must act now, we must act together."
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