As countries prepare for the next round of global climate negotiations in Glasgow, major powers are organising a series of summits and initiatives to ramp up ambition towards the targets set by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Pacific island leaders, however, are concerned that existing emissions reduction is nowhere near enough to stave off devastating damage to livelihoods and environment. There are also difficulties translating climate funding pledges into action on the ground, reinforcing the Forum’s decision to establish a new US$1.5 billion Pacific Resilience Fund.
US President Joe Biden aims to improve America’s global prestige after the Trump era, hosting a virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate on 22-23 April. As countries focus on the global coronavirus pandemic and US-China competition, Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry is hoping the climate crisis will be high on the agenda at the next G-7 summit, to be held in the United Kingdom in June.
The new surge of summitry aims to generate stronger climate pledges before the next round of formal climate negotiations at the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held in Glasgow next November.
Read the full story in this month’s issue of Islands Business.
