As coastal erosion and sea level rise eats away the Solomon Islands due to climate change, the Pacific island nations are considering the world's first international treaty that would ban or phase out fossil fuels and set goals for renewables.
The "Pacific Climate Treaty" is currently under consideration after the fourth annual Pacific Islands Development Forum (PIDF) held in the Solomon Islands this week.
During the two-day summit, 14 presidents, prime ministers and ambassadors from the island countries and territories discussed solutions to the Pacific's development challenges.
“[Leaders] seemed convinced that this is an avenue where the Pacific could again show or build on the moral and political leadership that they've shown earlier in their efforts to tackle climate change," Mahendra Kumar, climate change advisor to PIDF, told the Guardian.
The treaty is being utilized as a way to implement the aspirational 1.5 degrees Celsius target set by the Paris COP21 climate talks in the Pacific region, according to the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN), a coalition of NGOs that wrote the treaty.
The proposed treaty will be studied and a report will be presented at the 2017 summit.
"Expressing positive reviews to our proposal, the Leaders agreed to 'note the content of the draft Pacific Climate Treaty and approve that further consultations be undertaken, with a report back at the 5th PIDF Leaders Summit next year' for possible adoption," PICAN wrote on its Facebook page. "This is a major accomplishment for our PICAN team working in partnership with our Government Leaders to lead the sustainable development agenda of the region."
Kumar said the treaty could be ratified in 2018.
The PIDF was created in 2013 by Fiji. This year's summit excluded Australia and New Zealand, which were part of earlier talks. At last year's talks, Australia and New Zealand were criticized by their smaller and developing island neighbors for having less ambitious climate change targets and for not doing more to combat climate change.
“Pacific island leaders are among the most proactive in the world on global warming because their countries are bearing the brunt of climate changes ... Their willingness to consider a Pacific climate treaty shows much-needed leadership on the world's most pressing environmental challenge," Joeteshna Gurdayal Zenos, acting head of Pacfic Net, which is Greenpeace Australia Pacific's climate justice project, told the Guardian.