Earth Today | ‘Let’s make our planet resilient’

THE ALLIANCE of Small Island States (AOSIS) has made an impassioned plea for special consideration for small island developing states (SIDS), at the ongoing global climate talks in Baku, Azerbaijan while once again making the case for new, adequate and accessible financing.

“Hotter summers and colder winters are the new norm. We are now facing the possibility of losing the most vulnerable countries with the least capacity to address these climate events. The irreversible damage from climate change impacts being faced by SIDS is immeasurable and must be addressed,” said AOSIS chair, Minister Cedric Schuster of Samoa.

He was speaking last week on behalf of the 39 small island and low-lying coastal nations represented by AOSIS in climate change and sustainable development negotiations.

“Climate impacts must be addressed immediately and with a keen sense of urgency. The longer we wait, the less likely there will be a road for the recovery of SIDS. IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) scientists are calling for immediate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to make the world safe. While we spend trillions globally on fossil fuel infrastructure and security, we are doing nothing to save humanity from the clutches of climate change,” he added.

Against this background, Schuster called for “the preparation and implementation of the most ambitious nationally determined contributions” as “a critical part of the solution under the Paris Agreement”.

“We must move forward from a business-as-usual scenario to scenarios that make our planet resilient. Deep emissions cuts should be our aim and our motto in developing our NDCs. If we fail to do so, our small island nations will be in peril,” he said.

According to the AOSIS chair, “the special needs and circumstances of SIDS were recognised in Rio in 1992 and reaffirmed at the last SIDS conference in Antigua and Barbuda in June of this year” and must now be given priority at COP29 even as the needed financing is made available.

“Our fragile economies, limited resources, and the remoteness of our island nations must be fully addressed within the new goal. Agreement to a goal that fails to recognise the special case of small islands would ensure that the Paris Agreement will fail to meet its goals,” he said.

“This long-awaited climate finance COP must give us a beacon of hope in the coming decade. The goal must cater for [and] address the needs and priorities of each developing country. AOSIS’ top-level priority for this COP is to see its key ask from the joint SIDS and LDCs [least developed countries] submission on respective minimum allocation floors of at least USD 39 billion per year for SIDS and at least USD 220 billion per year for LDCs included in the final NCQG (New Collective Quantified Goal) outcome,” he said.

At the same time, the AOSIS chair said that the goal “should not focus entirely on mitigation and adaptation, but given the ever-increasing impacts of climate change, financing for loss and damage has to be included”.

The cut and thrust of negotiations in Baku are closing on the finish this week with mixed reviews of the anticipated gains when the curtains officially come down on the talks tomorrow (November 22).

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