Kabu Verde’s prime minister: 'Climate crisis is here' after Sal flooding

Delivering Kabu Verde’s statement to the General Assembly, Prime Minister Francis Evelyn Vat Carval said plainly that “Climate crisis is here,” and listed drought, desertification, water scarcity, ocean acidification and rising sea levels as immediate threats to his country and other small island states.

Carval pointed to a concrete local example, saying that rising sea waters flooded the avenue in front of hotels on the island of Sal two days earlier. He framed the climate crisis as a question of justice, saying those who have contributed least to greenhouse gas emissions cannot continue to bear disproportionate consequences.

The prime minister tied scientific findings to policy action, urging the translation of knowledge into decisions and measures at the national and multilateral level to protect territory, economies and cultures that depend on the ocean.