Tiempo Climate Newswatch

The government of low-lying Kiribati is thinking about moving its population to man-made islands similar to giant off-shore oil platforms. "We're considering everything... because we are running out of options," said President Anote Tong, whilst attending the Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland, New Zealand. Radical ideas had to be considered, he said, even if they sound like science fiction. "If you're faced with the option of being submerged with your family, what would you do?" he asked. "Would you jump on the rig... on a floating island or not? I think the answer is yes."

Ban Ki-moon, United Nations secretary-general, visited Kiribati en route to the Pacific Islands Forum. "For those who believe climate change is about some distant future, I invite them to Kiribati. Climate change is not about tomorrow," he warned. "It is lapping at our feet – quite literally in Kiribati and elsewhere." Kiribati is also considering a series of sea walls, which would cost approaching US$1 billion. Tong complained that Kiribati had received little financial assistance despite the pledges made by wealthier nations. In a communique, the Pacific Islands Forum leaders warned that climate change was the "single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and well-being of the peoples of the Pacific."

Nearly one million more people across the Horn of Africa need humanitarian aid, the United Nations reports. "[The increase] is largely due to the impact of drought, worsened by high food prices, as well as conflict and insecurity in Somalia," according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. A total of 13.3 million people are now in need of assistance, but there is a funding shortfall of almost US1 billion.

Famine has now spread to a sixth region in Somalia, Bay. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that over 917,000 Somalis now live as refugees in the four neighbouring countries, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Yemen. United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has called for longer-term efforts to reduce vulnerability when the rains fail as well as a response to the current crisis. "Across the Horn, a bold approach is needed that ensures both recovery and resilience while taking into account the environment, the economics of pastoral and nomadic livelihoods, population pressure, equity in development spending, good governance and the need to avoid dependency," he said.

Google has published its energy use for the first time. Its carbon footprint is slightly higher than that of the nation of Laos and similar to that of the United Nations. The company reports that it emits 1.5 million tonnes of carbon a year but says that its data centres consume 50 per cent less energy than the industry equivalent.

The company claims that a typical user of its services generates 1.46kg of carbon a year. Gary Cook at Greenpeace International commented: "We've seen lots of leadership from Google on sustainability but not in terms of transparency. It's good to see them finally put their footprint data on the table, which hopefully should start a more robust debate on the energy use of online services. We need to see others doing the same." Google has invested nearly US$1 billion in renewable energy projects.