PINA

As a deadly heatwave continued to grip Europe on Tuesday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued an impassioned appeal for more ambitious global action on climate change caused by fossil fuels, to prevent irreversible damage.

In a major keynote speech at London Climate Action Week, the UN chief called on AI firms to “come clean” on the full environmental impact of data centres in terms their carbon, water and land footprints.

The Secretary-General also highlighted how the world’s dependence on oil is driving both the climate crisis and an energy sovereignty crunch, the latter linked to massive shipping disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and the war involving Iran, Israel and the United States.

“These crises may seem separate but they share the same destructive origin: fossil fuels. And they demand the same answer: a fast, fair transition to clean energy and a surge in adaptation, resilience and climate justice for those already facing climate harm,” Guterres said, in a call for political leadership to push through global change akin to that required to phase out leaded gasoline and to ban chemicals that created a hole in the ozone layer.

Earth’s tipping points

It is more than a decade since world leaders agreed in Paris to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, a remarkable show of international unity, led by the UN. Today, although that Agreement stands – and despite the US officially withdrawing for a second time in January this year – UN-backed scientists warn that average annual temperatures are likely to exceed that threshold in coming years.

“Every fraction of a degree matters,” the Secretary-General insisted, as he forewarned of the irreversible damage to coral reefs unable to survive in too-warm waters, the melting ice sheets that threaten to reshape coastlines and displace millions, and the real possibility that some small island nations could disappear under the waves.

Faced with this existential scenario, “the task before us is to strictly limit the overshoot, shorten its duration and bring temperatures down below 1.5°C as fast as possible”, Guterres maintained.

‘Mother of all energy shocks’

And while he pointed out that “any peace agreement is welcome and would bring much needed relief”, in reference to a 60-day pause in hostilities to allow ongoing Iranian-US talks in Switzerland, the UN chief noted that the Middle East crisis had unleashed “the mother of all energy shocks” comparable to the oil disruption of the 1970s and the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As damaging as the Middle East war has been for highly industrialized nations, the UN Secretary-General insisted that developing countries have been hit even harder:

“It is a debt shock, a food shock, a development shock”, he told the London audience.

A just future from renewables

“The good news is – unlike every past energy crisis – we now have a clear way out, a clean way out,” the Secretary-General continued.

He noted that since 2010, the cost of solar energy has plummeted by almost 90 percent, onshore wind by more than 70 percent, and battery storage by 95 percent.

Renewables avoided more than the annual carbon dioxide emissions of the U.S, the EU and Japan combined, Guterres said, adding that clean energy investment now attracts almost twice as much as fossil fuels.

“There are no embargoes on sunlight and no blockades on the wind,” he said.

A seven-point plan for energy independence

As part of the Secretary-General’s blueprint for a clean break with fossil fuels, he outlined seven key steps:

1: Emissions must peak immediately and fall steeply this decade, reaching net zero by 2050. The G20 group of wealthy nations “must lead” on this, as it is responsible for around 80 percent of global emissions, Guterres said. Ambitious measures include a global Call to Action on Methane to reduce emissions of the gas traps around 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide, but which breaks down in the atmosphere within just a decade or two.

“The world phased out leaded gasoline. We eliminated ozone-depleting chemicals. Methane pollution must be next,” the UN chief stressed.

2: Clean energy projects should be promoted and public subsidies ditched for new fossil fuel projects. “The eight largest fossil fuel companies reported pocketing an extra US$6.5 billion in the first quarter of this year alone…I urge governments to tax them” to help vulnerable families and communities and accelerate the shift to clean, affordable energy, Guterres said.

3: Every major AI company should “measure and publicly disclose the full environmental impact” of data centres: their carbon, water and land footprints – and commit to power every data centre with renewable energy by 2030. Today, AI data centres already consume more electricity than most nations; “it’s time to come clean”, the UN chief noted.

By 2030, AI data centres could use enough water to meet the basic needs of all 1.3 billion residents of sub‑Saharan Africa for an entire year, the UN chief said.

4: “No more extraction without development:” Guterres called for greater support for the move to clean energy in a way that benefits workers and communities everywhere and developing countries too, driven forward by the UN Climate Conference – COP31 – in Türkiye. “The transition itself is no longer in question,” he stressed, adding: “It will be either managed or chaotic, fair or unequal, a source of stability or of greater division; and these choices are still ours to make.”

5: Protect those most at risk from climate chaos by helping them adapt, because this “saves lives, safeguards homes and communities, helps economies absorb shocks and holds societies together”, the Secretary-General insisted. Contingency systems need to be put in place before shocks become humanitarian and economic catastrophes, Guterres added. At the same time, developed countries must deliver on their “long-standing commitment to double adaptation finance, with a clear trajectory toward tripling it”, he said.

6: Support fair finance to support phasing out fossil fuels and the green transition at scale and at speed: because many developing countries face borrowing costs that are two to three times higher than in wealthier economies.

“Countries rich in renewable potential are being locked out of the clean energy revolution,” the UN chief maintained, pointing to African countries which receive only two percent of global clean energy investment even though they possess 60 percent of the world’s best solar resources.

Guterres highlighted the US$600-US$800 billion in additional lending capacity of multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank. This should be used “aggressively” to finance the infrastructure of the future and climate adaptation, along with other investment measures such as taxing high-emitting sectors, he maintained.

Equally, “developed countries must keep their promises”, including support to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage and the Green Climate Fund, the Secretary-General continued, noting that the US$300 billion pledged to developing countries must be delivered along with concrete steps to mobilise US$1.3 trillion a year by 2035.

7: Finally, the UN Secretary-General urged support for science as the bedrock of truth and early warning systems – and to tackle climate falsehoods, since “disinformation is spreading deliberately to delay climate action, entrench vested interests, and erode trust”.

Human rights defenders and journalists reporting on the climate and the environment should be protected and trust in evidence and institutions bolstered, Guterres insisted, pointing to the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, led by the UN, UNESCO and Brazil in support of this goal.

By Georgina Maka’a & Ronald Toito’ona

Once called Solomon Islands’ least developed province, the logging industry was sold as the catalyst for change for Makira-Ulawa province.

Instead, with 75 percent of loggable trees already harvested, the industry has left a legacy of unfulfilled promises.

For decades, Makira-Ulawa has been forgotten by developers, except for those looking to extract its timber.

Today, the graveyards of rusty machinery left behind by loggers now become monuments to unfulfilled promises.

A recent visit to the Bauro region of Makira Island by In-depth Solomons uncovered a grim reality.

While the logs are nearly gone, the promised clinics, schools, churches and prosperity never arrived.

As the province faces total forest depletion, this special report uncovers the permanent impacts on village life and the new hope found in carbon trading.

What’s Left? Nothing

When the logging machines fall silent and the foreign workers depart, what remains for the people of Bauro in Central Makira is one big question.

For Dominic Taro, a 73-year-old elder from Manihuki Village in central Bauro, the answer is heartbreaking.

“There’s nothing left behind. Nothing,” Taro told In-depth Solomons.

Taro has seen six different companies operate in his area since the 1980s.

“I have not seen any changes logging brought to our communities. They have not helped us to build clinics, schools, or facilities,” he added.

He told In-depth Solomons that the math of logging rarely favors the local land owners or even the villagers.

While millions of dollars in timber leave the shores, Taro recalls the highest royalty share he ever received was a mere SBD$1,000(US$123).

At the time, this amount was not enough to build a permanent home, let alone starting a small income generating business.

Rosina Aramo of Kaonasugu echoes this, noting that in 2018, a company promised to rebuild a local church in her community.

“Today, years after they left, not a single nail has been driven,” she said.

Nigel Usumae, a local farmer, said logging companies have promised to do water supply, building schools and clinics, but nothing has happened.

“I think they are promising these things as part of negotiation to enter into the areas,” said Usumae, who returned to Makira in the early 2000s after spending his younger days in Honiara.

However, logging has both good and bad impacts. It all depends on how trustees come up with ideas to use the royalties to generate sustainable activities.

These were the words of Julie Kabea, a landowner trustee of one of the tribes in Central Makira, who uses logging royalty to purchase a vehicle that provides transportation to generate income for people in her tribe and ensure her tribe has timber to build better homes for their families.

“For our group as a trustee, management is important. One positive impact that logging has had on our communities, especially our tribe, is that we make sure logs are milled so families can build their permanent homes.”

“Like for my tribe, we invest our royalty to purchase a vehicle to provide transportation so we can have money for our people in need,” Kabea says.

Life Before and After

Logging in Solomon Islands has depleted the forests.

Even if some trees remain, it’s the secondary trees that are now being logged, Central Bank of Solomon Islands (CBSI) Governor Dr Luke Forau told local media in a recent press conference.

He says there are no longer any virgin forests left, so most loggers are now moving into the mining sector.

However, Forau says logging still remains in the top two in terms of foreign exchange coming into the country.

Forau adds that now mining is picking up, the governance around it needs to be strengthened so it does not go the same way as logging.

There were a lot of issues encountered, and the government didn’t really benefit in terms of economic return from the forestry sector.

“We would have benefited more had we managed the sector well.”

Before logging arrived, communities lived off the land and sea in a delicate balance. When logging enters, there is a brief, artificial surge of cash.

Christopher Marenga, from Hao Village, calls it “money shock”.

“For some, it was their first time to see huge sums of money. They misused it, thinking logging would stay forever,” Marenga explains.

But the ‘after’ is a bitter pill to swallow, he said with a laugh.

“When the companies left, they were dropping back to ground zero. Some even to -10.

He added those who didn’t invest their royalties in small businesses like cocoa or copra now find themselves without money and without the forest resources they once relied on.

“The garden lands that once sustained them are no longer productive due to topsoil erosion and climate-driven changes in the soil,” Marenga said.

The physical destruction of the land has turned daily survival into a struggle for mothers and farmers.

The once-clear streams and fertile gardens have been replaced by silt and rusted machinery.

Human Trafficking and Cultural Decay

Perhaps the most sensitive and under-reported impact is the social cost to the province’s youth.

Chief Robert Ngiriapu of the Manihuki community speaks candidly about an old issue that continues to haunt the industry – the exploitation of young girls.

“Our youths today, especially girls, were influenced… where girls want to marry Asians, I think because of the money,” Chief Ngiriapu observes.

He notes that these arrangements often break custom and cause deep divisions within families.

“This is about the systemic luring of vulnerable people with small amounts of cash to stay silent about rights violations. This is not just about marriage,” the Chief said.

According to Ngiriapu, in some areas within the Bauro district, companies have had to implement strict ‘no contact’ rules to prevent these issues.

“But I have seen babies with mixed local and Asian parentage here. This indicates that the rules often come too late,” Chris said.

Environmental Ruin: A Mother’s Toll

While men often dominate the logging negotiations, women like Rosina Aramo bear the daily struggle of the aftermath.

“Logging is not good because it spoils our land,” Aramo says.

“It spoils the ground, causes landslides, and spoils the water sources. We end up drinking dirty water.”

In Makira, women are the resource owners because of the matrilineal system practised there.

Joyce Murray, one of the resource owners of Star Harbour, says that when it comes to signing off on logging agreements or royalties, you hardly see women taking the lead.

For those living in low-lying coastal areas, this is compounded by the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of mangroves, which once protected the shore from rising tides.

“I did not favor logging. Instead of making us good, it is total destruction. Experiences like flooded rivers and streams, I think logging is not the best thing for the country,” Kaonasugu resident, Usumae added.

Carbon Trading: A New Phenomenon for a Sustainable Future?

With Premier Stanley Siapu estimating that 75% of the province’s loggable trees already gone, the province is at the crossroads.

The Premier is now pushing for a drastic shift toward reforestation and conservation.

“Logging leaves you with nothing, but conservation protects our future,” Siapu says, pointing to the success of the Yato Protected Area, which was officially launched in Kirakira, on Friday 27th March 2026.

A new hope is emerging in the form of carbon trading.

This scheme, spearheaded by NGOs, allows communities to receive income for not cutting down their trees.

Usumae told In-depth Solomons that he believes this is the breakthrough Makira needs.

“Carbon trading is the best thing. You take money but you also preserve your forest. You benefit but don’t destroy your areas,” Usumae says.

Murray agrees!

She believed carbon trading is the way forward for women because “it’s a community thing where everyone will benefit.”

However, while resource owners think this is the way forward for forest conservation in Makira, Deputy Commissioner of Forests Gideon Solo, who is also the Head of Forest Management and Technical Division, says there is still a long way to go.

“…..this is in terms of making sure that relevant policies, regulations and legislative frameworks are in place to strengthen what we are doing (Carbon Trading). I think that is the direction.

“At the same time, at the provincial level too. We must work together to ensure that there are right ordinances to help support the work,” Solo told In-depth Solomons.

* This story was produced with funding support from PACMAS (Pacific Media Assistance Scheme), an Australian Government aid programme designed to strengthen and support a diverse, independent, and professional media sector across the Pacific.