Island states will appeal to the industrialized nations to show more initiative towards climate protection.

On occasion of the Pacific Islands Forum Meeting (September 3 - 6), the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) sends an appeal to the industrialized nations, demanding a more consistent climate policy in order to protect the indigenous peoples living in the region. "If these people are to have a future on the Pacific Islands, the industrialized countries must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions significantly," said STP-consultant Ulrich Delius in Göttingen on Monday. "The fact that Germany's federal government is trying to avoid stricter CO2-limits for new passenger cars increases the risks for the native peoples of the Pacific." By blocking further EU initiatives to reduce the limit values, Germany will forfeits its pioneering role in climate protection. Tens of thousands of indigenous people in the Pacific are threatened by the impacts of climate change. If the atolls sink into the sea or become salinized, nobody will be able to survive there.

During the "Pacific Island Forum Meeting", which takes place on the Marshall Islands starting from Tuesday, the island states will send an urgent request for help to the industrialized nations, asking for new climate protection initiatives. China, the US, other important industrial nations and the European Union will take part in the summit. The EU Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard, will visit the Marshall Islands to support the planned Majuro declaration, which is aimed at negotiating further climate initiatives.

The indigenous people of the Pacific islands have already become the first victims of the climate changes. Extreme weather, rising sea levels and salinization of the land are a threat to the livelihoods of thousands of people living on the islands of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia. Some island nations are threatened to be flooded even if the sea levels rise only slightly, because the atolls are only five feet above sea level. "But the gradual salinization of their land is an even greater threat than the risk of flooding, for fewer and fewer people are able to live off the land," said Delius.

In addition, the climate changes are also causing more extreme weather. In spring 2013, the Marshall Islands suffered from a draught lasting several months due to lack of rain. Even the United Nations World Food Program had to step in, because more than 6,000 islanders needed supplies in fresh water and food for several months, due to the drought.