Earth Today | Keeping the 1.5 dream alive
SIDS urge concrete action on global stocktake, climate financing at COP28
Published:Thursday | November 30, 2023 | 12:08 AM
AS THE world converges on Dubai for this year’s international climate talks (COP28), small island developing states (SIDS) have once again laid bare their list of needs to successfully tackle climate change and its varied and worsening risks and threats.
Chief among them is attention to the Global Stocktake (GST), a tool of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that provides a deep dive into country efforts on climate action and support, in addition to insights into existing gaps and opportunities to collaborate for solutions.
“This is a global mission for the greater good. SIDS have been making significant strides on climate action, but we must be realistic. We account for less than one per cent of global emissions. The developed countries, which contribute 80 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, must raise their ambition. They must lead on fossil fuel phase-out,” said Ambassador Fatumanava-o-Upolu III Dr Pa’oleleiLuteru, chair of the Alliance of Small Island Developing States (AOSIS), the negotiating bloc for SIDS at COP28.
“Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and making deep, drastic cuts to ensure we reach net zero by 2050 is of the essence. This is a matter of survival not just for our islands, but our world,” he added, in a November 27 statement shared with the media.
THE COP28 IMPERATIVE
According to the AOSIS chair, SIDS are on the frontlines of the prevailing climate crisis, making a strong outcome on the GST at COP28 essential.
“We know we are woefully behind on achieving the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. The GST is a critical process that indicates where we need to re-orientate. We know we must stay within the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit, if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change – impacts our islands are already suffering from, including loss of land from sea level rise, catastrophic loss of lives and homes from more frequent and severe storms, lack of drinkable water, agricultural depletion, and more,” the chair noted.
“The GST is based on the best available science which supports this need, and gives us a road map for course correction,” he insisted.
His comments come years after the publication of the special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change looking at the impacts of 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways. That report paints a troubling picture of Caribbean and others SIDS in peril because of climate risks and threats – from extreme weather events and sea level rise to undermined food and water security as well as public health.
The Paris Agreement also specifically references 1.5 degrees Celsius as a target, reflecting the commitment from country parties to “holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change”.
Meanwhile, also on the list of SIDS priorities for COP28 is “a robust framework for the Global Goal on Adaptation to accelerate action”, together with funding for loss and damage.
“Failing on ambition here is not an option for SIDS. On Loss and Damage funding arrangements, we look forward to countries taking the recommendations of the Transitional Committee on board, so we can finally open the channels of finance to assist the vulnerable countries that desperately need the support. It is fundamental that the Loss and Damage Fund has an adequate scale of capitalisation, at least USD100 billion for the first four years of the fund,” Luteru said.
“Small island developing states have been crying out for urgent climate action for over three decades, and we get the impression that we are being ignored. So we are amplifying our call. Now is the time for concrete action. It is real results that matter to us. We cannot, must not go into COP28 with a lot of pledges and no credible commitments. Our survival is at stake. We are all in this together. Small island developing states may be on the immediate frontlines of the climate crisis – but be assured, if we do not act together, it will affect everyone. This is not just coming for us all; it is here. The time to act must be right now,” the AOSIS chair maintained.