(WWF / 21-09-09)  Ensuring the survival of small island states of the Pacific, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and the Caribbean depends on that the richest and more polluting countries assume their responsibility to reach an ambitious agreement at the next summit in Copenhagen in December. Otherwise, according to WWF, the future of these countries may be threatened by the effects of climate change, which may leave many of these states submerged because of rising temperatures.

The next summit of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), celebrated in New York, will allow these less polluting countries but much more exposed to the consequences of global warming, to express their critical situation. So far, climate negotiations have been dominated by more developed and polluting countries.

The island states are grouped into AOSIS alliance, which includes 43 members and 41 million people. For these countries, a rise in sea level could be catastrophic. The small islands are already suffering from the immediate impacts of climate change such as coastal flooding, the disappearance under the sea of certain islands, the reduction of freshwater resources, severe droughts, loss of crops and the increase of diseases.

Furthermore, the acidification of the seas, as result of an increased presence of CO2, is killing corals and threatening fish stocks, which are the first sustenance of many communities.

The summit of this alliance coincides with a series of high-level meetings in New York starting next week. Among them, it is the preparatory meetings for the Summit of the UN meeting about climate in Copenhagen and the G20 meeting. This will allow these threatened countries to express their concern about the impacts of climate change to the more powerful countries.

Mar Asunción, responsible for Climate Change Program of WWF Spain, said: “We must break the vicious circle whereby the big polluters are studying measures to combat this threat among them. It is completely absurd to discuss climate change without paying attention to the demands of the most affected countries.”

WWF shares the request of AOSIS member states to request an immediate and forceful action against climate change to ensure the survival of small island states.

The more ambitious policies on climate change always talk about to a temperature rise of 2º C (regarding preindustrial levels) as the most manageable for Western economies. However, the island states fear that an increase of only 1.5 ° C is enough to flood or saline too much its territory.