The Climate Justice 1.5°C Allies
14 DECEMBER 2022
Climate change, with its many risks and threats, is a clear and present danger to countries the world over, but in particular Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and others from the global South.
Their vulnerability can be seen in their small size and, in many instances, struggling economies, together with their geographical locations that put them in the path of natural disasters. These factors make it essential that sustained, scaled-up actions be taken to halt the warming of the planet and the associated impacts.
→ READ MORE ON PANOS CARIBBEAN'S WEBSITE
Pictured: attendees at CARICOM Pavilion event - COP27
24 NOVEMBER 2022
PETRE WILLIAMS-RAYNOR/FELLOWSHIP
While breathing a sigh of relief following the decision on financing for loss and damage coming out of the recent United Nations Climate Conference, Caribbean SIDS have reservations over the overall package of decisions from the international negotiations (COP27) that concluded in Egypt on November 18.
Not the least of these is the seemingly insignificant strides made to ramp up ambition to cut emissions that fuel the warming of the planet and the associated impacts – from extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, to threats to food and water security, as well as the risks to public health.
“While the establishment of the loss and damage fund is a big win for SIDS, representing 30 years of effort and struggle, there were many disappointments for SIDS in Egypt, particularly as it relates to keeping 1.5 alive,” noted Colin Young, Executive Director of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Climate Change Centre who was at the negotiations, which began on November 6 and ended on November 18.
Pictured: participants at the UN Climate talks mill around at the CARICOM Pavilion - COP27
23 NOVEMBER 2022
PETRE WILLIAMS-RAYNOR/FELLOWSHIP
Stakeholders from Caribbean small island developing states (SIDS) have welcomed the decision to establish a loss and damage response fund from the recently concluded United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) in Egypt.
“We have literally exhausted all of our efforts … to bring home the climate action commitments our vulnerable people desperately need,” said the Hon. Minister Molwyn Joseph of Antigua and Barbuda, chair of the Alliance of Small Island Developing States (AOSIS), in a statement issued Sunday (November 20).
“Our Ministers and negotiators have endured sleepless nights and endless days in an intense series of negotiations, determined to secure the establishment of a loss and damage response fund, keep 1.5 alive, and advance ambition on critical mitigation and adaptation plans,” he added.
22 NOVEMBER 2022
EVENT TOOK PLACE ON 15 NOVEMBER, IN SHARM EL SHEIK, EGYPT.
Historic loss and damage response fund to assist and support developing countries is finally established at UN climate summit
COP27, Egypt, 19th November, 2022
STATEMENT FROM AOSIS CHAIR, THE HONOURABLE MINISTER MOLWYN JOSEPH, ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA
AOSIS promised the world we would not leave Sharm El Sheikh without achieving the establishment of a loss and damage response fund. A mission thirty years in the making has been accomplished.
We have literally exhausted all of our efforts here at COP27 to bring home the climate action commitments our vulnerable people desperately need. Our Ministers and negotiators have endured sleepless nights and endless days in an intense series of negotiations, determined to secure the establishment of a loss and damage response fund, keep 1.5 alive, and advance ambition on critical mitigation and adaptation plans. But after the pain comes the progress.
Today, the international community has restored global faith in this critical process that is dedicated to ensuring no one is left behind. The agreements made at COP27 are a win for our entire world. We have shown those who have felt neglected that we hear you, we see you, and we are giving you the respect and care you deserve. Now we must solidify our ties across territories. We must work even harder to hold firm to the 1.5C warming limit, to operationalize the loss and damage fund, and continue to create a world that is safe, fair, and equitable for all.
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About AOSIS:
Since 1990, AOSIS has represented the interests of the 39 small island and low-lying coastal developing states in international climate change, sustainable development negotiations and processes. As a voice for the vulnerable, its mandate is more than amplifying marginalised voices as it also advocates for these countries’ interests. In terms of size, AOSIS closely resembles the countries it represents on the global stage, but often punches far above its weight, negotiating historic global commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions, among other achievements.
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→ AOSIS STATEMENT IN PDF FORMAT
18 NOVEMBER 2022
Some communities have been paying a heavy price since our planet was lit on fire by some of its people. It puts a simple question to these fire-starters: When can you pay us back? Payment is overdue.
18 NOVEMBER 2022
The missing demographic. The children yet unborn. What would they say? An impassioned appeal from Sir Molwyn Joseph yesterday continues to reverberate as AOSIS prepares to take this fight to the wire. We are not giving up! #WeWantLDFinance #IslandsMatter
- Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)
SIDS negotiators want commitment to financing arrangements
17 NOVEMBER 2022
PETRE WILLIAMS-RAYNOR/FELLOWSHIP
Caribbean and other small island developing states (SIDS) are intent on securing a decision for a financing facility for loss and damage associated with climate change, despite what has been a reportedly frustrating week and a half of negotiations at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP27) in Egypt.
In a statement shared earlier yesterday (November 16, 2022), the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which represents the interest of 39 SIDS and low-lying developing countries, made clear their displeasure with the negotiations that have so far yielded “a lack of progress” on arrangements for loss and damage that result from extreme events, such as hurricanes, and so-called slow onset events, including, sea level rise and warmer global temperatures.
“We have come too far to fail on loss and damage finance. Three quarters of humanity is relying on a favourable outcome at COP27. AOSIS and our fellow developing countries have toiled for the past thirty years to be heard on this issue,” AOSIS Chair, the Hon. Minister Molwyn Joseph of Antigua and Barbuda, said in a statement shared with the public.
16 NOVEMBER 2022
Small Island Developing States leaders express fear that many developed countries are backtracking on commitment to make progress on critical loss and damage response finance to assist vulnerable countries recover from climate change impacts
COP27, Egypt, 16th November, 2022 – In the final few days of negotiations at the UN climate summit, COP27, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and other developing countries are gravely concerned with the lack of progress made on the fundamental agenda item of funding arrangements for loss and damage. The inaction of many developed countries has the potential to stall talks and land a devastating blow to the hopes of the developing world for the establishment of a loss and damage funding facility at COP27.
“We have come too far to fail on loss and damage finance. Three quarters of humanity is relying on a favourable outcome at COP27,” said the AOSIS Chair, the Honourable Minister Molwyn Joseph of Antigua and Barbuda. “AOSIS and our fellow developing countries have toiled for the past thirty years to be heard on this issue. AOSIS has worked tirelessly this year to build consensus, devise a clear loss and damage response fund proposal, and ensure the commitment of the international community to come to COP27 and negotiate on this issue in good faith. Now, we are here, and some developed countries are furiously trying to stall progress and even worse, attempting to undermine small island developing States. So, not only are they causing the worst impacts of the climate crisis, they are playing games with us in this multilateral process. There have only been informal consultations, to date, of this critical agenda item, and no official launch of negotiations through a Joint Contact Group.”
“We greatly appreciate the signs of willingness to engage from countries such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand and call on other developed countries to uphold the integrity of this process which is mandated to support the most vulnerable,” he continued. “AOSIS is sworn to serve the vulnerable women, children, and men of our countries who deserve not just to survive but to thrive. Our countries have been pushed to their very limits, and there is no lifeline in further delay tactics.
We did not cause this crisis, we are bearing the brunt of the suffering, yet we are the ones constantly asked to make concessions. If other countries continue to cast aside small islands to serve the interests of the fossil fuel industry, they cannot expect our people to swim in a stagnant pool. The tide has turned on loss and damage. Why do you continue to turn a deaf ear to the cries of our people? Why do you continue to call into question the very credibility of this process?
COP27 is billed as the implementation COP. It is time to implement loss and damage finance. I am being very clear – small island developing States will no longer stand for delay on loss and damage finance.”
→ READ STATEMENT ON AOSIS WEBSITE
Climate scientist urges attention to 1.5 target, loss and damage support
16 NOVEMBER 2022
PETRE WILLIAMS-RAYNOR/FELLOWSHIP
Caribbean climate scientist, Prof. Michael Taylor has thrown his weight behind calls for a comprehensive agreement from the United Nations (UN) Climate Talks (COP27) now ongoing in Egypt – one that is responsive to the needs of the region’s small island developing states (SIDS).
Those needs, he said, include demonstrably scaled-up emissions cuts to hold temperature increases at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as well as financial support for loss and damage.
“The priority issues haven't changed: mitigation to limit future warming to give places like the Caribbean a more livable future; adaptation financing mechanisms in support of adaptation plans which recognise that the future ahead, even at 1.5 degrees, will be extremely challenging; as well as acknowledgement of loss and damage and new supporting financing mechanisms for the most vulnerable for whom loss and damage is already a reality,” said Taylor.
A Physicist and Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Taylor was one of the lead authors for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways.
15 NOVEMBER 2022
Many rich countries are using dishonest and misleading accounting to inflate their climate finance contributions to developing countries – in 2020 by as much as 225 percent, according to investigations by Oxfam.
Oxfam estimates between just $21-24.5 billion as the “true value” of climate finance provided in 2020, against a reported figure of $68.3 billion in public finance that rich countries said was provided (alongside mobilized private finance bringing the total to $83.3 billion). The global climate finance target is supposed to be $100 billion a year.
15 NOVEMBER 2022
Since 2018, global cleanups and brand audits have been carried out by more than 200,000 volunteers in 87 countries and territories to identify the companies polluting the most places with the most plastic waste. Over all five years, more Coca-Cola Company branded items were collected than the next two top polluters combined. This year’s brand audits found more than 31,000 Coca-Cola branded products, doubling the proportion of Coca-Cola products found in 2018. These findings are revealed as the top polluter is serving as a sponsor of the UN climate change conference COP27 in Egypt. Given that 99% of plastic is made from fossil fuels, Coca-Cola’s role in COP27 baffles environmental activists.
→ MORE ON GREENPEACE'S WEBSITE
15 NOVEMBER 2022
Angelique Pouponneau, Policy Advisor says that the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) is looking for a framework to guide the deliberations of the Glasgow Sharm El-Sheikh Work Programme on the Global Goal on Adaptation next year that has more ‘purpose’ and ‘intent’ than at present. She also outlines Small Island Developing States’ needs for finance, technology transfer and capacity-building.
→ MORE VIDEO INTERVIEWS IN THIS SERIES ON CLIMATE AMBITION SUPPORT ALLIANCE'S WEBSITE
15 NOVEMBER 2022
"The main objective of the event is to share climate change science with a broad range of stakeholders by providing a platform to discuss climate change impacts, the implementation of adaptation solutions for small islands, which may assist in achieving transformation toward the end goal of a sustainable future for small island states, and vulnerabilities they face in addressing impacts and taking adaptation action.
Many small islands are seeking answers to what urgent climate adaptation action is needed to protect themselves from the impacts of climate change. No single adaptation measure will be the panacea or provide the “silver bullet” for all the challenges faced by small islands. It is clear that a balancing act is needed in implementing adaptation solutions ranging from a combination of ecosystem-based adaptation and engineered coastal structures to extreme measures such as planned relocation in retreating from the coast.
GREENPEACE: "COP27 stifles dissent, ignores impacted voices & puts polluters before climate justice"
13 NOVEMBER 2022
As the vital COP27 climate talks resume for a second week, Greenpeace warned that hope and progress can only be restored if the microphone is taken from the polluters and handed to people from impacted communities and countries.
To succeed, the COP27 must agree to establish a dedicated financial facility for loss and damage, secure adequate adaptation and green transition funding for developing countries and accelerate fossil fuel phase out in line with 1.5°C.
→ MORE ON GREENPEACE'S WEBISTE
In Sharm el Sheikh / COP27 on 15 November 2022: register now for this Climate Analytics Caribbean event at the CARICOM Pavilion (Pavilion 5, Area C) to discuss #ClimateJustice for the Caribbean, and to raise the bar for regional resilience. With Secretary-General of CARICOM Dr. Carla Barnett.
TO REGISTER: HTTPS://BIT.LY/3T9SPT4
12 NOVEMBER 2022
The 27th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties is at its halfway mark. Despite some positive steps having been made, progress during negotiations is continuing at a slow and disappointing pace according to CARE International.
10 NOVEMBER 2022
The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States - the OECS - highlights the inspiring work of some of the younger members of Caribbean delegations on the ground at the UN Climate Change's COP27.
→ VISIT THE OECS YOUTUBE CHANNEL
9 NOVEMBER 2022
PETRE WILLIAMS-RAYNOR/FELLOWSHIP
Stakeholders from Caribbean small island developing states (SIDS) have welcomed the inclusion of loss and damage as an agenda item for the UN Climate Summit (COP27) now taking place in Egypt.
COP27 sees 120 world leaders and other stakeholders gathered to work out the best way forward in the global response to climate change. It is estimated that 45000 persons from 196 countries are attending COP27.
The vulnerabilities of Caribbean SIDS – who bear little or no historical responsibility for climate change but who stand to lose the most from its various risk and impacts – have made it critical for them to lobby for compensation for loss and damage arising from the adverse effects of climate change. These effects include extreme weather events, sea level rise, loss of biodiversity as well as land and forest degradation.
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne speaking on the importance of loss and damage finance for the Caribbean. (Photo courtesy Bianca Beddoe/Frances Fuller)
8 November 2022
Today, Tuvalu has united with their Pacific neighbours Vanuatu in calling on other nation states to develop a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, a proposed international mechanism to effectively regulate fossil fuel production and pave a clear, fair pathway for a shift to renewables in order to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5ºC.
→ MORE ON FOSSILFUELTREATY.ORG
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