Samoa’s first female prime minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, is a staunch climate advocate whose rallying cry to the world is to act now on climate change to save her nation and its people. The gravity of her plea was emphasized after the latest IPCC report which issued a “final warning” on the climate emergency. The report underscores the necessity for a rapid transition to a low-carbon economy to avoid disastrous consequences such as rising sea levels and extreme weather — the effects of which are already tangible for Pacific Island nations like Samoa. Mata’afa emphasizes the collective responsibility to adhere to emission reduction commitments and implement necessary policy decisions, highlighting that women’s leadership must be central to fully tackling the climate crisis.
