Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon joins climate fight, highlights global challenge

Melting ice caps in the North contribute to the rise in global sea levels. This was the stark reality highlighted by Prince Haakon during his presentation on ocean challenges and opportunities at USP’s Laucala campus on Tuesday. Picture: SUPPLIED/EDWARD HALDING/GARY BAMBRIDGE/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

By DIPESH KUMAR and ROSALIE NONGEBATU

Crown Prince of Norway Haakon Magnus did not mince his words when he spoke about the need for the sustainable ocean management and practices to tackle the problems of overfishing and pollution during his first official visit to Fiji this week.

While some world leaders continue to turn a blind eye to the impact of climate change, Prince Haakon stood firm in his belief that “climate change is real and man-made” and that the peoples of the South and the North are already experiencing its effects.

During his speech on “Partners Across the Globe – An Ocean of Challenges & Opportunities” at USP’s Japan-Pacific ICT Theatre on Tuesday, Prince Haakon said his visit to the University aimed to strengthen co-operations between Pacific Islands to battle mutual challenges on ensuring healthy oceans and fighting climate change.

“Our common oceans are under threat so we, all of us who live on this planet, have to stop using the oceans as a dump,” Prince Haakon said.

“You in the South and we in the North area already experiencing the effects (of climate change). Sea levels are rising and cyclones are occurring in the Pacific Islands more frequently than before, more coral reefs are dying

“Our winters are getting shorter than before and our glaciers are getting smaller and this is how we are connected. The ice in the North is melting which means it leads to the ocean coming up or the ocean rising all over the world.

“And of course in this region where you have done the least I guess to create the problem. You are bearing the brunt of the consequences.”

Plastic pollution

Highlighting the devastating extent of plastic pollution, Prince Haakon said eight million tonnes of plastic are released into the oceans every year according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

“That means 15 tonnes of plastic every single minute, so in this session together, there will be 900 tonnes of plastic litter that will end up in the oceans,” he said.

“Obviously, that is not sustainable for the oceans; that is not sustainable for us human beings. The ocean is key to our history, identify and economy.

“I think we can work together and stand together to tackle this challenge. In Norway it’s being done on many different levels.

“People are out picking plastic along the beaches. We have days where most of the people go and do this on the same day.

“There’s also grassroots action and there’s also the government who have different initiatives when it comes to plastic pollution. They have a new initiatives where they have set aside about $US200 million ($F426m) to tackle this issue internationally.”

Norway’s Minister for International Development, Dag-Inge Ulstein, said sustainable practices in terms of addressing the plastic litter had been instilled in children from a young age.

Visit to Fiji

Speaking to Wansolwara News, Prince Haakon said he was overwhelmed by the warm hospitality of the Pacific peoples since his arrival.

“It’s really wonderful to be here. It’s a very pleasant temperature, love being in the warm. We came from Norwegian winter straight here,” he said after witnessing a cultural performance at the Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies.

“It’s amazing to see all the friendly peoples of Fiji. We’ve been received so warmly by the also the president and the prime minster of the government. So it’s been quite an experience.”

The Prince is on an official 10-day tour of the Pacific starting with Tonga last week, Fiji and Samoa.

• Dipesh Kumar (Fiji) and Rosalie Nongebatu (Solomon Islands) are final-year journalism students at USP’s Laucala campus. They are also senior editors for USP Journalism’s student training newspaper and online publication, Wansolwara.