The rising sea levels that accompany global warming are particularly threatening to small island states.

For the chief negotiator of the Aosis, the forecasts of the UN climate experts are frightening and call for urgent action to save these coastal areas and protect the populations. 

Less than three months before the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, the shocking observation of the UN climate experts (IPCC) published on Monday sounds like a commotion: humans are "indisputably" responsible for climate disturbances.

And the small islands are not spared, quite the contrary.

The latter are raising a cry of alarm in the face of rising water levels, an irreversible phenomenon if we do not drastically and rapidly reduce our CO2 emissions.

Because it is a question of life or death for these territories, as explained Asha Challenger, chief negotiator of the Alliance of the small island States (Aosis).

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Displacement of entire populations

"Our CO2 emissions are tiny and the burden literally comes right on our doorstep. There is a really high risk of losing all these coastal areas," she said at the microphone of Europe 1. For her, the majority of the population in these islands is also concentrated on the coast.

"We depend on it for our daily life. This is where we work, this is where our economic activity resides and it is very scary to see the forecasts of the IPCC report", she continued. .

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The Alliance of Small Island States is therefore trying to consider adaptation plans to protect the population, and in extreme cases, the complete displacement of inhabitants to smaller areas.

"What would happen if the entire population of a state had to be moved to a new territory? What happens to this state?" Asha Challenger asked.

However, the latter was intended to be reassuring.

"We know that if we make significant efforts now, we can limit the warming of temperatures to 1.5 degrees around 2050. We need a quick and surgical change to decarbonize our energies and achieve this goal."