Cop 26 president vows to bat for SIDS

The global COVID-19 pandemic which closed international borders, shut down industries across the world and cut international as well as domestic travel, did not in any way slow the impact of climate change on the economies of small island developing state (SIDS) such as Jamaica. Hence there is an urgent need to turbo charge efforts to meet the objective of the Paris Agreement, a legally binding internationally treaty adopted by 196 Parties at the Conference of Parties (COP) 21 in Paris on December 12, 2015, to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.

That was one of the main takeaways from last Tuesday’s press briefing at which British politician Alok Sharma, the president-designate for COP 26 – the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties from October 21-November 12, shared his plans for the event with journalists.

“We are at a critical point for our planet. We must take urgent action to reduce global emissions and to keep the goals of the international climate treaty of the Paris Agreement which was agreed on in 2015 to keep the 1.5 degrees Celsius in reach. We must also strengthen efforts to protect people and nature from the effects of our changing climate and we must increase the finance flows to climate action which, of course, is vital,” he declared.

Sharma, who was on a two-day working visit, met with Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith and Climate Change Minister Pearnel Charles Jr, as well as climate change advocates. Jamaica was the first stop on a regional tour which includes Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados.

COVID-19 had postponed COP 26 by a year and Sharma spoke to the urgency of getting things done on an international level to start addressing climate change in substantive and sustainable ways in SIDS..

“This is the decisive decade and that’s why COP 26 matters so much for every country around the world. The overarching ambition is that I think at the end of COP 26 we will be able to say we kept 1.5 degrees Celsius. It is fair to say that Jamaica is one of those countries which is on the front line of the climate crisis, and yet it has done next to nothing to create this particular crisis. It is very much the case that these small island developing states are suffering disproportionately from a crisis that they have done next to nothing to create, and I am absolutely determined that COP 26 will deliver for them,” Sharma vowed.

Jamaica and the United Kingdom are co-chairs of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NCD) partnership which supports countries in making plans to reduce emissions and also helps to strengthen international collaboration on financing, so that support can be provided to help with these emission reduction plans.

“I look forward to working with Jamaica to find practical solutions to the unique challenges that small island developing states face, and I am looking forward to welcoming Minister Charles to a meeting of ministers that we are convening in London at the end of this month, to make progress on some of the key negotiating issues relating to COP 26.

Sharma was scheduled to tour sections of the island affected by Hurricane Elsa and will also seek to get an up-close look at how climate change has been affecting and continues to impact lives and livelihoods in the other Caribbean islands he will visit.

Meanwhile, British High Commissioner to Jamaica, Asif Ahmad, said addressing climate change issues must move beyond solely focusing on disruptions caused by severe weather conditions, but must include a more granular perspective.

“It is not just severe hurricanes that impact Jamaica. Heavy or unseasonal rainfall has had an impact within the island on urban roads. This is something the Jamaican Government has been pressing for the world to take recognition of, not just one-off catastrophic events, but the daily impact of climate change.”

Sharma also spoke of his very enlightening meeting with climate advocates, including three young persons who really impressed with their innovative climate adaptation projects.