Extreme heat endangers births, UN climate chief warns

Nadi, Fiji — Extreme heat is increasingly linked to problems such as premature births or low weight babies, the UN climate chief warned on Monday as Fiji hosted talks ahead of a major summit.

This week’s meetings in the town of Nadi and on the Tuvalu atoll aim to focus the world’s attention on life on the front lines of climate change in the Pacific.

They are a precursor to the world’s largest UN-sponsored climate summit, known as COP31, which will be held in Türkiye next month.

Underscoring the need for urgent action, UN climate chief Simon Stiell cited a new survey showing that more than two-thirds of healthcare professionals across five continents have faced complications from intense heat in the past five years.

“Extreme climate-induced heat during pregnancy is increasingly linked to premature birth, stillbirth, low birth weight and maternal complications,” he said.

The charity Plan International said in a separate report on Monday that climate disasters also increase the risk of child marriage and teenage pregnancies, partly because of their impact on the health and education services girls rely on.

The South Pacific is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to global warming – from rising sea levels endangering homes to rising temperatures causing coral bleaching.

Fiji’s Climate Minister Lynda Tabuya has called on developing countries to commit to a “just transition” with support for “the world’s most suffering countries”.

A UN report released in August found that developing countries needed $310 billion to $365 billion to adapt, while only $26 billion in adaptation finance was available in 2023.

“We are counting on and calling on countries to commit to climate finance,” Tabuya said.

Australia, the leader of this year’s climate negotiations and a major coal exporter, faces accusations of hypocrisy: Its fossil fuel sales have soared thanks to demand driven by conflict in the Middle East.

Tabuya told reporters there had been “frank discussions” on Monday with his Australian counterpart Chris Bowen and Pacific officials.

“Yes, we have sentiments expressed by some countries,” she said when asked if she supported calls from other Pacific leaders for Australia to halt the expansion of coal and gas projects.

“But for the Pacific, it is important that we find common ground at this pre-COP. There will be things we disagree on, but we can agree to disagree,” Tabuya said.

Refocus on limiting global warming

Also on the agenda is Pacific leaders’ efforts to keep the world on track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) – a threshold that has been violated in 2025 – and pay more attention to the impact on the oceans.

“Keeping 1.5 alive means hope – hope for Tuvalu, hope for Kiribati, hope for small island atolls around the world,” Bowen told reporters.

“We can actually approach this conversation and say, ‘as a fossil fuel exporting country, we can bring something different to the table,’” he said.

Sea levels are also rising at a record rate, due to warming oceans and melting glaciers, according to the UN report released in August.
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Up to 1.2 billion people could be displaced by 2050, with Pacific island countries experiencing sea level rise twice the global average, the report said.

Regional leaders have presented the pre-COP as an opportunity to bring the world to the Pacific, and they are keen to show the impact of climate change on the region.

In the village of Naidiri, a marine protected area an hour’s drive south of Nadi, residents described efforts to combat coral bleaching and improve ocean health.

“Countries that do not cause climate change are affected,” Joseva Kunagado, 21, told AFP.

Manoa Duwai, who created the Naidiri village marine protected area more than a decade ago after realizing the damage caused by overfishing, said residents faced climate change “every day”.

“Sea levels are rising and there was a heatwave earlier this year,” he said. “A message to developed countries: remember, don’t forget.”

Delegates will also take a day trip Tuesday to Tuvalu’s lowlands, which is already considering displacing its population if it is consumed by the ocean.

Tuvalu is one of the least visited countries in the world and the highest point in its capital, Funafuti, is just 2 meters above sea level.