Anote Tong: My country will be underwater soon -- unless we work together
Anote Tong: Mi país pronto estará bajo el agua, a menos que trabajemos juntos
Anote Tong has built worldwide awareness of the potentially devastating impacts of climate change. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
by just telling us about your country.
simplemente escuchando sobre su país.
Esos puntos son bastante grandes.
Those dots are pretty huge.
del tamaño de California.
is about the size of California.
by saying how deeply grateful I am
diciendo que estoy muy agradecido
historia con gente a la que le importa.
with people who do care.
gente a la que no le importa mucho.
a lot of people who don't care too much.
of three groups of islands:
tres grupos de islas:
es quizás el único país
is perhaps the only country
4 esquinas del mundo,
in the four corners of the world,
in the Southern Hemisphere,
norte, en el hemisferio sur,
internacional de cambio de fecha.
of the International Date Line.
made up of coral atolls,
completamente por atolones de coral,
metros sobre el nivel del mar.
two meters above sea level.
than two kilometers in width.
más de 2 km. de ancho.
I've been asked by people,
la gente me pregunta
¿por qué no se mudan?".
why don't you move back?"
que está involucrado.
of what it is that's involved.
"Well, you can move back."
"Bueno, pueden ir más adentro".
en el otro lado del océano.
on the other side of the ocean. OK?
that people don't understand.
que la gente no entiende.
just a picture of fragility there.
una imagen de su fragilidad.
inminente para su país?
impending peril for your country?
has been one that has been going on
climático ha estado presente
General de las Naciones Unidas,
at the United Nations General Assembly,
controversia entre los científicos
this controversy among the scientists
si era real o no.
whether it was real or it wasn't.
was fairly much concluded in 2007
debate concluyó en el 2007
Evaluación del IPCC,
Report of the IPCC,
that it is real, it's human-induced,
que es real y provocado por el hombre
some very serious scenarios
las predicciones del 2007,
the predictions came in 2007,
problema para nosotros.
creo, que para el año 2100,
I think, that by 2100,
del mar aumenten quizás 1 m.
perhaps three feet.
it's higher than that, for sure,
que hay un aumento mayor
to a skeptic who said,
escéptico que dicen:
sobre el nivel del mar.
six feet above sea level.
it's got to be understood
se tiene que entender
en el nivel del mar
una gran cantidad de tierra,
olas en cada momento.
we are getting the swells at the moment.
that is happening in the future.
algo que sucederá en el futuro.
bottom end of the spectrum.
extremo inferior del espectro.
who already have been dislocated.
and every parliament session,
en cada sesión parlamentaria,
from different communities
con los ojos de agua dulce
about the freshwater lens
las diferentes islas,
to the different islands,
a la pérdida de las cosechas,
with the loss of food crops,
tal vez deban salir, trasladarse,
perhaps leaving, having to relocate,
suffered its first cyclone,
sufrió su primer ciclón,
What happened here?
que al estar en el ecuador,
that when you're on the equator,
No se supone que tengamos ciclones.
We're not supposed to get the cyclones.
enviamos al norte o al sur.
either north or south.
a principios de este año,
at the beginning of this year,
which destroyed Vanuatu,
the very edges of it actually touched
cuando el huracán Pam golpeó.
when Hurricane Pam struck.
islas más meridionales,
de la mitad de la isla,
from my own constituency,
habían estado allí por décadas,
which had been there for decades,
about the rising sea level,
aumento del nivel del mar,
that happens gradually.
viene con las olas,
it comes with the swells,
es el cambio en el patrón climático,
is the change in the weather pattern,
que el aumento del nivel del mar.
than perhaps the rising sea level.
is already seeing effects now.
viendo los efectos ahora.
como país, como nación?
as a country, as a nation?
this story every year.
esta historia cada año.
para tratar de generar conciencia.
to try and get people to understand.
que tenemos un plan.
I think I spoke in Geneva
me estaba entrevistando
who was interviewing me
islas flotantes",
at floating islands,"
pero alguien dijo,
but somebody said,
personas están buscando soluciones".
These people are looking for solutions."
at floating islands.
en construir islas flotantes.
in building floating islands.
hecho un compromiso
we have made a commitment
vamos a tratar en lo posible
we will try as much as possible
existiendo como nación.
something quite significant,
tratar de permanecer fuera del agua
to continue to stay out of the water
las tormentas sean más intensas.
and as the storms get more severe.
very, very difficult
va a ser muy, muy difícil
that we would need.
is some form of forced migration.
es algún tipo de migración forzada.
estamos viendo que
that nothing comes forward
está sucediendo en Europa.
like what's happening in Europe.
at some point in time.
to give the people the choice today,
dar al pueblo la elección hoy,
and want to do that, to migrate.
lo que se vean obligados a emigrar
that they are forced to migrate
y sociedad son muy diferentes
our society is very different,
a un entorno diferente,
into a different environment,
of adjustments that are required.
in your country's past,
forzadas en el pasado de su país,
or the day before yesterday,
¿Cuál es la historia?
alguien se preguntaba
I think somebody was asking
para visitar ese lugar.
to visit that place.
a community of Kiribati people
comunidad de personas de Kiribati
of the Solomon Islands,
de las Islas Salomón,
from the Phoenix Islands, in fact,
reubicadas de las Islas Phoenix,
no podía seguir viviendo en la isla,
could not continue to live on the island,
vivir aquí en las Islas Salomón.
to live here in the Solomon Islands.
to meet with these people.
reunirse ayer con ellos.
No habían oído hablar de mí.
They hadn't heard of me.
the opportunity to welcome me formally.
la bienvenida formalmente.
was very interesting
por supuesto me respondieron,
they spoke back, they replied,
a no hablar Kiribati correctamente.
not to be able to speak Kiribati properly.
this lady with red teeth.
señora con dientes rojos.
the local people here,
han casado con la gente local aquí,
there are bound to be changes.
hay lazos que se cambian.
a certain loss of identity,
afrontar en el futuro
looking for in the future
just an extraordinarily emotional day
extraordinariamente emotivo
sentimiento de lo que habían perdido.
an emphasized sense of what they had lost.
que lucharán hasta el final
you're going to fight to the end
la nación en un lugar.
the nation in a location.
decisión muy difícil para mí.
a very difficult decision for me.
para dejar tu isla, tu casa,
to leave your island, your home,
on a number of occasions,
and I've tried to live with it,
la que he tratado de vivir
de no tratar de resolver el problema
of not trying to solve the problem
hacerse de forma colectiva.
to be done collectively.
global, como a menudo menciono,
and as I've often argued,
when we come to the United Nations --
llegamos a las Naciones Unidas...
the Pacific Island Forum countries
países del Foro de las Islas del Pacífico
también son miembros,
are also members,
reducir las emisiones,
that to cut emissions,
that they're unable to do
entender lo que estoy diciendo
supervivencia está en riesgo.
to weigh this, these moral issues.
evalúen, estas cuestiones morales.
a la supervivencia de un pueblo.
the survival of a people.
what made you angry,
But then you paused.
Pero después hubo una pausa.
anterior en las Naciones Unidas.
statement at the United Nations.
muy frustrado y deprimido.
and then depressed.
la que no tenemos esperanza de ganar.
that we have no hope of winning.
escucharía a alguien racional,
to somebody who was rational,
racional, sea lo que sea.
whatever that is.
of your nation's identity is fishing.
identidad de su nación es la pesca.
involucrado en la pesca de alguna manera.
is involved in fishing in some way.
every day, every day,
todos, todos los días,
tasa de consumo de pescado
that our rate of consumption of fish
both at the local level
tanto en el ámbito local
that the country receives
se tomó un paso muy radical.
you took a very radical step.
en las Islas Phoenix.
right here in the Phoenix Islands.
of what fish means for us.
que la pesca significa para nosotros.
atún más grandes que quedan en el mundo.
tuna fisheries remaining in the world.
algo así como el 60 %
something like 60 percent
para algunas especies, no para todas.
for some species, but not all.
propietarios de los recursos,
major resource owners,
percent of our revenue
derechos de licencia.
escuelas y lo que sea.
schools and what have you.
and it was a very difficult decision.
fue una decisión muy difícil.
locally, it was not easy,
a nivel local, no fue fácil,
que teníamos que hacerlo
pesca siguiera siendo sostenible.
that the fishery remains sustainable.
that some of the species,
de que algunas de las especies,
was under serious threat.
estaba bajo seria amenaza.
se pescó intensivamente.
por esa razón lo hicimos.
and so that was the reason I did that.
a la comunidad internacional
the international community
luchar contra el cambio climático
in order to fight climate change,
there has got to be commitment.
internacional hacer un sacrificio,
to make a sacrifice,
teníamos que hacer ese sacrificio.
need to make that sacrifice.
a cuánto asciende la pérdida
what that loss would be
at the beginning of this year,
el comienzo de este año,
de la pérdida de ingresos.
of the lost revenue.
playing into this.
una pesca saludable.
it may prompt healthier fisheries.
to move the price up
have been very difficult,
han sido muy difíciles,
el costo de un día buque.
to raise the cost of a vessel day.
entre a pescar por un día,
to come in to fish for a day,
entre $ 6 000 y $ 8 000,
it was $6,000 and $8,000,
that significant increase.
ese aumento significativo.
what's important to note is,
hay que tener en cuenta es
estos barcos de pesca
atrapaban 10 toneladas,
and maybe catch 10 tons,
ya que son más eficientes.
because they've become so efficient.
responder del mismo modo.
porque la tecnología lo ha mejorado.
because the technology has so improved.
se trasladó del Atlántico al Pacífico.
moved from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
si podían, per se.
if they could, per se.
han llegado a ser muy eficientes.
and they've become so efficient.
of what it's like in those negotiations?
de cómo son las negociaciones?
de dólares en juego, en esencia.
of dollars at stake, essentially.
lidiando con las mismas empresas
with the same companies
máximo rendimiento de su país,
the most for your country,
too often on licensing
demasiado a menudo en los permisos
recibiendo de los derechos
from license fees
los desembarques de las capturas
of the landed value of the catch
not in the retail shops.
en las tiendas al por menor.
de hacer en los últimos años
to do over the years
participación en la industria,
our participation in the industry,
esperar, la comercialización.
tenemos que participar más.
we have to become more involved.
a trabajar en ello,
gente que el mundo ha cambiado.
that the world has changed.
los peces nosotros mismos.
sus pescadores locales,
for your local fishermen,
¿Se agotan las aguas?
Are the waters depleted?
on a sustainable basis?
actividad de pesca comercial
in the commercial fishing activity
el mercado interno.
para el mercado extranjero,
entirely for the foreign market,
Europa, Japón.
poder de atrapar aleta amarilla
to be able to catch yellowfin
por cientos de toneladas
out of the water by the hundreds of tons
of beautiful girls from your country.
hermosas chicas de su país.
would you have for the world?
that we really have to do something
que tenemos que hacer algo
sucediendo con el clima
del futuro de estos niños.
the future of these children.
misma edad que estas jóvenes,
about the same age as these young girls,
diciéndole a todo el mundo,
propio interés nacional,
their own national interest,
por desgracia, lamentablemente,
regrettably, unfortunately,
un problema nacional. No lo es.
as a national problem. It's not.
recientemente con nuestros socios,
we got into recently with our partners,
"No podemos recortar más".
"We can't cut any more."
the Australian leader, said,
líderes, el líder de Australia, dijo,
parte, estamos recortando.
we are cutting back.
Why don't you keep it?
¿Por qué no se lo queda?
el resto de sus emisiones
the rest of your emissions
dentro de sus fronteras,
within your borders,
tanto como gusten.
atraviesan en nuestro camino.
you're sending it our way,
the future of our children.
futuro de nuestros hijos.
of the problem of climate change today.
actual del cambio climático.
a finales de este año,
at the end of this year,
esto como un fenómeno global,
as a global phenomenon,
individual, como naciones,
individually, as nations,
a hacer algo al respecto,
to do anything about it,
como un problema nacional,
problema mundial
dealt with collectively.
at responding to graphs and numbers,
a los gráficos y los números,
at responding to that sometimes.
respondemos un poco mejor a esto.
posible que su nación,
very possible that your nation,
problemas que enfrenta,
the intense problems you face,
más visible para el mundo.
to the world that shines most visibly,
seguro, a nombre de todos,
I'm sure, on behalf of all of us,
y por estar aquí.
and for being here.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Anote Tong - President of the Republic of KiribatiAnote Tong has built worldwide awareness of the potentially devastating impacts of climate change.
Why you should listen
His Excellency Anote Tong is the fourth President of the Republic of Kiribati. He was first elected as President on 10 July 2003 and subsequently won two more elections in 2007 and in 2012. He is now serving his last term, which will end in mid-2015. Under his leadership, President Anote Tong also holds the portfolio of Head of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Immigration.
Anote Tong was born in 1952 on Fanning Island (also known as Tabuaeran) in the Line Islands and is a member of the Kiribati House of Parliament from the constituency of Maiana Island in the central Kiribati group.
Educated in New Zealand and in England at the University of Canterbury and the London School of Economics respectively, President Tong holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Economics under his belt.
Since the beginning of his presidency, President Anote Tong has become a strong climate change advocate and has built worldwide awareness of the potentially devastating impacts of climate change.
He has stated on many occasions that Kiribati may cease to exist altogether and that its entire population may need to be resettled not as climate change refugees but as citizens who migrate on merit and with dignity.
With one of the lowest carbon-emission footprints in the world, Tong has often described Kiribati as a “frontline country” that has been among the first to experience dramatic climate change impacts.
As an extraordinary measure to set an example for the rest of the world, President Tong created the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, one of the largest marine protected areas in the world with a size of 408,250 square kilometers which was inscribed as a United Nations World Heritage site in 2008.
President Tong has won a number of awards and recognition that acknowledges his contribution and leadership on climate change and ocean conservation.
Anote Tong | Speaker | TED.com