Emperor, Empress Discuss Climate Change with Samoan PM

May 17, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko discussed climate change with Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi at the Imperial Palace on Wednesday.

The 20-minute meeting was also attended by the prime minister's wife, the Imperial Household Agency said.

According to the agency, Tuilaepa told the Imperial couple that the South Pacific island nation's biggest challenge is land subsidence caused by the rise in sea levels, adding that in his hometown seawater flows into a river at high tides.

After listening with great interest, the Emperor asked particularly about ocean pollution in Samoa.

When the prime minister pointed to the issue of drifting waste such as plastics in coastal areas, the Emperor voiced concern about the difficulty of a single nation tackling such an international maritime problem, agency officials said.

"Oceans are connected," the Emperor was quoted as saying. Jiji Press