Climate, Obama at COP26: “Islands never so threatened”

As a ‘son of Hawaii’, Barack Obama raises the alarm on the islands, “never so threatened” by climate change. In a speech at COP26 underway in Glasgow, the former US president argues that there would not have been such an ambitious agreement in Paris in 2015 if the islands had not been heard. But “we have not done enough and our islands are threatened more than ever”, Obama raised the alarm, then said he was proud that the US administration and President Joe Biden are giving the issue “the attention it deserves” by committing themselves. with three billion dollars to support the countries most vulnerable to climate change. “We all have a part to play – continued the former American president – we all have work to do, sacrifices to make, but those of us who live in the big rich nations have an additional burden to ensure that we are working and assisting. those who are less responsible and less able but more vulnerable to this crisis “. The islands, he said, “are in some ways like canaries in coal mines”, the alarm bell that warns, ‘if we don’t act now then it will be too late’. Then, Obama concluded his speech with a Hawaiian proverb: “United to move forward”.