At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that opened in Samoa on the 24th, several Pacific Island countries particularly emphasized that Australia should make more efforts to phase out fossil fuel exports.

According to reports, Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Te’o, together with senior officials from Vanuatu and Fiji, supported a new report of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, which highlighted the important role played by Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom in global emissions.

The report pointed out that since 1990, the emissions generated by fossil fuels mined by these three countries accounted for 60% of such emissions in Commonwealth countries, even though they only accounted for 6% of the Commonwealth population.

The report’s conclusions also pointed out that “fossil fuel mining is seriously unbalanced” and criticized the climate commitments of these countries for contradicting their efforts to expand fossil fuel production, especially Australia and Canada.

The report also stated that earlier this year, Te’o approved a treaty with Australia to strengthen immigration and security ties between the two countries and mitigate the impact of climate change. He further called on Australia to phase out fossil fuel production, warning that the current policies of major polluters were tantamount to a “death sentence” for his country.

“Australia has an obligation to ensure that any action it takes does not undermine the commitments it has made in terms of climate impact,” Mr Te’o told a news conference in the Samoan capital of Apia.