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NORWAY: May 28, 2007
OSLO - Arctic peoples and tropical islanders will try to strengthen an unusual alliance on the front lines of global warming from Sunday by seeking ways to cope with melting ice and rising seas.
Inuit hunters from Canada and Greenland and a Sami reindeer herder from Norway will be among those meeting local community leaders and other experts from French Polynesia, Fiji and the Caribbean at talks in Belize from May 27-30.
Polar ice and permafrost sound an odd combination with tropical palm beaches
and coral atolls but scientists say both the Arctic and small islands are
among the most vulnerable to global warming, widely blamed on human use of
fossil fuels.
"There are so many similarities between the two regions and we hope to ...
see how collaboration can be made at community level," said Grete Hovelsrud,
research director at the Center for International Climate and Environmental
Research in Oslo.
Hovelsrud told Reuters the meeting of 40 delegates would be the first of its
kind since a "Many Strong Voices" plan for Arctic peoples and island states
was launched at UN talks in Montreal in 2005. Hovelsrud is a leader of the
programme.
Both Arctic peoples and those in tropical islands depend on the coasts --
Inuit people rely on sea ice for hunts of polar bears or seals while many
islands rely on fishing or tourism based on the lure of white sands, coral
reefs and palm beaches.
"In the Arctic the ice is disappearing," she said. "In the tropics, rising
seas are damaging beaches. And seawater is percolating into the ground water
and damages crops."
The Arctic region and small island developing states account for just one
percent of greenhouse gases. By teaming up they might raise their political
clout.
INUIT
"The Inuit don't have the front seat when it comes to policy making and I
don't think the small islands do either," Hovelsrud said. The talks are
partly sponsored by the United Nations and the Organisation of American
States.
The talks would try to work out a five-year plan of work and examine
possibilities for a broader study of threats to small islands modelled on a
2004 study of the Arctic by 250 experts.
A report by the UN climate panel in April said that small islands were
"especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, sea level rise and
extreme events." Erosion of beaches or damage to corals could damage
fisheries and tourism.
It also said that warming is happening faster in the Arctic than elsewhere
-- dark ground or sea, once uncovered, soaks up far more heat than
reflective ice or snow.
Story by Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
