Simon Kofe Quotes
Simon Kofe is a Tuvaluan politician. He was appointed as the Minister for Justice, Communication & Foreign Affairs,[1] in the cabinet of Kausea Natano following the 2019 Tuvaluan general election. Mr Kofe made headlines at last year’s COP 26 summit, when he gave a speech while standing knee-deep in the ocean to highlight rising sea levels due to climate change.
He was nominated by Norwegian politician Guri Melby, who announced it in a twitter post.
Simon Kofe Quotes
“If you save Tuvalu now, you are essentially saving the world.”
“We cannot wait for speeches, when the sea is rising around us all the time”
“So, hopefully, people will come out strongly and support leaders that are serious about climate change and will take stronger action.”
“Just thinking about that is a reality check. If their country started planning for relocation or looking at issues of statehood, I’m sure leaders would take this more seriously.
“A lot has happened since Cop26. We are facing multiple crises on different fronts. There is the war in Ukraine, rocketing food and fuel prices, and the ongoing recovery from the pandemic.”
“We are in a strategic position to forewarn the bigger countries of what is to come. So being nominated is a great honour. But I think it’s also an indication of the concerns of the people right now.”
“People are becoming increasingly concerned about and aware of issues of climate change. Our goal is to bring that awareness to the world because I believe living in bigger countries you don’t necessarily feel the impacts of climate change.”
“We were looking to the UK for leadership, and if that is the direction they’re going be heading in it is quite disappointing. We need to look again at how we send our message out to the public because they are the ones who put pressure on their leaders.
“Living conditions will be so difficult on the islands that people would have to be forced to relocate. Tuvalu is planning for that worst-case scenario, looking at ways to secure our statehood under international law in the event we are forced to relocate or our physical land area disappears.
“The rainwater is used for drinking, bathing and for feeding our animals. So when that runs out, it’s a big, big problem for us. For the past couple of weeks, water has been rationed for families. For countries like Tuvalu, we are at the mercies of the environment. So the impact of climate change is of real concern to us.”
“These are all issues governments and leaders are grappling with at this time and I recognise that draws attention away from climate change. Understandably, countries are not really focused or implementing the commitments and pledges. But we will continue to fight for 1.5˚C as our goal. We’re already at 1.2˚C and are seeing the impacts of that right now in different parts of the world.”
“It’s critical we remain focused on climate change because it is an existential threat to us. The responsibility is on us at the forefront of the impact of climate change to keep this on the agenda and ensure leaders around the world are considering the issue of climate change in the midst of all the competing interests and issues that they are facing.”