On Saturday 10 June 2023, the Prime Minister’s Press Secretariat issued a statement heralding a pledge of collaboration by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Government to the Solomon Islands Government on issues of mutual interest, including climate change.
The Saudi Arabia envoy on Climate change made the pledge of commitment to the first-ever Solomon Islands Government to visit the capital of the biggest country on the Arabian Peninsula, Riyadh, last week. The delegation was led by none other than the head of the ruling Democratic Coalition Government for Advancement (DCGA), Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare.
It is indeed a welcome news, especially when Solomon Islands is one of the small island state in the Pacific region, grappling with sea-level rise – an impact of climate change caused by the ever growing rate of carbon gas emissions.
Sogavare has talked about relocation of people from coastal areas prone to tsunamis ever since the Choiseul and Western provinces were struck by the April 2007 tsunami. The East Choiseul MP, who was also Prime Minister then, assured the tsunami victims that his Grand Coalition for Change Government (GCCG) was committed to ensure their relocation to higher grounds. Unfortunately for Sogavare, he was removed from office by a motion of no-confidence in December of that same year. From December 2007 to September 2014, he was in the Opposition – the first two years (December 2007 to April 2010) as Opposition Leader and thereafter, as an ordinary Opposition MP. In December 2014, he was re-elected as Prime Minister but was removed yet again in motion of no-confidence in October 2017. In 2019, Sogavare victoriously re-emerged as Prime Minister, making him the longest serving Parliamentarian and the first Parliamentarian to serve four times as Prime Minister.
The inclusion of Solomon Islands climate change- inflicted sea-level rise woes and the need for a domestic relocation programme in the roundtable discussions between the Prime Minister Sogavare-led Solomon Islands Government delegation and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Government officials in Riyadh last week is testament to the commitment of Sogavare to ensuring a relocation programme for the country’s coastal population that are prone to the effects of climate change.
But whether a relocation programme is an effective solution to addressing the issue of climate change is something that needs further relook, especially in a country like Solomon Islands where land disputes are common and land scarcity is increasing due to high population growth.
May be a better alternative to domestic relocation is a programme that rather focuses on the building of seawalls, installing sea-breakers and the planting of mangroves along the coast of areas adversely affected by sea-level rise. The building of sea-walls and sea-breakers will help slow down the sea-level damage, whilst the planting of mangroves will help reign land submerged by sea-level rise and even help extend land boundaries in the long run.
The ball is however in the government’s court but the people of this nation look to the government to make and implement policies that will effectively address issues affecting their very survival and livelihood such as climate change.
In the meantime, commendation goes to Prime Minister Sogavare for maintaining his commitment to ensuring a relocation programme for the Solomon Islanders living in disaster-prone coastal regions.
