BRISBANE, Australia, Oct 01 (IPS) - Climate activist Wanita
Limpus, from the low-lying island nation of Kiribati in the
Central Pacific Ocean, says the outcome of the Rio+20 Earth
Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in June was a serious letdown for
small, developing island states. Half of the 10 million people
of the Pacific islands reside within 1.5 km of the coastline,
and Limpus stressed that climate change and rising sea levels
were not a prediction but a reality threatening human security
now. Kiribati, with a population of over 100,000, comprises a
coral island and 32 atolls that are 1-3 m above sea level. “I
couldn’t believe it. Did they (world leaders at Rio) really care
about these small islands?” Limpus questioned during an
interview with IPS in Brisbane. “It didn’t seem to be on their
agenda. What can you do? Who is going to listen?” Sustainable
habitation on Kiribati is jeopardised by the sea that has risen
on average 1-4 mm per year since 1993, and overcrowding it with
a population density reaching 15