From 31 October to 12 November 2021 the Twenty-Sixth Conference of the Parties was held in Glasgow, UK. The Pacific islands region worked together as a united collective voice as one Pacific in our endeavour for a 1.5 degrees Celsius world.
The outcomes from C0P26 are a mixed bag, both in favour for our Pacific island’s region and also areas that we need to keep working together as one Pacific with one voice to confirm our 1.5 world.
Our perspective of these results will be shared with you over the coming months as we navigate our way through our journey ahead to C0P27.
It is a fact that our island region contributes less than 0.06% to the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions but we are amongst the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
This is where implementation of the Paris Agreement is crucial for our survival. We need action to keep the promise of limiting global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.
The impacts of climate change are personal for us Pacific Islanders. We knew, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions there would be fewer negotiators present at C0P26. Thus, there was a more concerted approach to amplifying our voice at C0P26. It cannot be said that the Pacific was not heard.
We had five Pacific Island champions that carried our messages in the high-level spaces at C0P26.
- Hon. Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands our Climate Finance Champion.
- Hon. Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, Attorney-General, Minister for Economy, Civil Service, Communications and Climate Change for Fiji our Oceans and the Climate Nexus Champion.
- Hon. Bruce Bilimon, Minister of Health and Human Services for the Republic of the Marshall Islands our Climate Ambition Champion.
- Hon. Seve Paeniu, Minister of Finance for Tuvalu our Loss and Damage Champion.
- Hon. Steven Victor, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment for the Republic of Palau our Environmental Integrity Champion.
Our Flex for 1pt5 on TikTok garnered over 14 million views collectively and brought together over 20,000 followers in the space of just over two weeks.
We entered the creative space with the Mana Moana — Pacific Voice poetry collection which showcased our Pacific oratory skills bringing our challenges to the fore using poetry and digital art.
Our Pacific negotiators worked tirelessly to ensure our voice was heard amongst the 20,000-plus people at C0P26 in Glasgow.
We would like to say thank you and express our appreciation to the many, many people that played a role in helping us amplify our Pacific voice.
We know many of our Pacific islands people left the comfort and protection of their homes and family to journey to Glasgow to engage at C0P26. We know many, many people played their part in helping to uplift our Pacific islands and amplify our collective voice. We have had the support of our partners who provided us with the impetus to be heard as loud as possible.
We thank you all for joining us on this journey — with your contribution our voices have echoed across the world, and it is with your contribution that we will continue onwards, gathering momentum across 2022 for our Pacific island’s survival.
We are One Pacific and One Voice, for a One point Five world.
