Fiji PM Bainimarama Warns of Global Water Crisis

Lack of clean water will be responsible for health problems and conflicts around the world, says Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama. He warned that the world's climate is heading towards a three-degree warming and global reductions in crop yields will bring malnutrition, disease and death.

Bainimarama called on the world's leading economies to live up to their commitment of meeting the 1.5-degree target. "As water resources dry out, we are going to see massive waves of migration out of what will become inhospitable regions in the world. Countries that share common water supplies will see their diplomatic relations tested. Conflicts will emerge." The PM said conflicts will emerge over the most basic resources such as water and other fundamental building blocks for human development. If current trends continue, Bainimarama said climate-induced water stress would become more prevalent. "Rising sea levels and stronger cyclones would create more intense storm surges, washing salt water into fresh water aquifers, destroying vital water sources in island and costal communities."

However, the devastation will not be limited to the coasts. Experts have sounded the alarm saying rainy seasons will bring even more intense floods, drowning entire communities, while the dry seasons will bring even longer droughts, scorching farmlands, destroying crops and parching vast numbers of people by depleting ground water resources.

For Fiji, Bainimarama said half a degree difference in global temperature, when it comes to accessing clean water, means the very difference between life and death for millions of people. He said the goal of the Paris Agreement was to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.