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Regional leaders insist on ambitious outcomes from climate talks
Published:Thursday | November 4, 2021 | 6:11 AM
CARIBBEAN HEADS of state have thrown down the gauntlet as countries worldwide engage in the latest round of global climate negotiations, this time in Glasgow, in pursuit of a stable climate future for all.
However, as the talks near the close of its first week and with only another week to go, it is anyone’s guess whether the region will achieve all it requires to ‘stay alive’ amid the warming of the planet that is projected to hit upwards of 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels between now and 2040.
“We come to Glasgow with global ambition to save our people and to save our planet. But we now find three gaps. On mitigation, climate pledges or NDCs (nationally determined contributions), without more, we will lead the world on a pathway to 2.7 degrees and with more, we are still likely to get two degrees,” noted Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley, speaking at the World Leaders Summit in Glasgow earlier this week.
“These commitments made by some are based on technology yet to be developed and this is, at best, reckless and, worse, dangerous. On finance, we are $20 billion short of the $100 billion and this commitment, even then, might only be met in 2023. On finance, adaptation finance remains only at 25 per cent, not the 50-50 split that was promised or needed, given the warming that is already taking place on this earth,” she said.
“Climate finance to front-line small island developing states declined by 25 per cent in 2019. Failure to provide the critical finance and that of loss and damage is measured in lives and livelihoods in our communities. This is immoral and unjust,” the prime minister said further.
According to Mottley, “If Glasgow is to deliver on the promises of Paris, it must close these three gaps.”
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness himself reinforced the need for ambitious and collaborative actions since ‘no one is safe until everyone is safe’.
PRE-EMINENT PRIORITY
“The message is clear: Climate change remains a pre-eminent priority for global action. As we have come to appreciate with the pandemic, ‘no one is safe until everyone is safe’. So too with climate change. All countries must act responsibly and with ambition to preserve our climate for current and future generations,” he told the summit.
“Importantly, the pandemic demonstrated that the world has the capacity to develop global solutions in record time when we believe and agree that the problem threatens our safety and security. It also demonstrated the need for equity. Equity is similarly critical to our response to climate change,” Holness added.
At the same time, he insisted that “countries that have profited the most from carbon over decades have a responsibility to make resources and technology available to others to adapt and transition to low-carbon economies”.
Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica representative and sustainable development professional, Eleanor Jones, is doubtful about the scale of what can be achieved at the talks, which in 2015 yielded the historic Paris Agreement.
“I think there is a bit more sensitivity to what needs to be done and we have some commitments that will take us gradually there. But what we need is really very sharp, deliberate action and I am not so sure that we are going to get as much of it as we need,” noted Jones, who has been a member of the Jamaica delegation to the talks in years past.
“We have to try to convince the major polluters that they are killing us. They are burning us, they are drowning us, destroying the biodiversity that exists. And it is us next; what do you think the COVID-19 pandemic is?” she added.
Jones statements came as global news reports reflect some important, albeit limited progress, concerning the commitment of major emitters. They include the pledge of India – where a reported 70 per cent of power is drawn from coal – to realise net-zero emissions by 2070.
Net zero is the point at which the amount of greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by the amount that is removed, with the goal to restrain the ongoing warming of the planet.