Page 19 - IBs November 2022

Climate Change Climate Change

needed to achieve in order to secure our future here in the COP President H.E. Sameh Shoukry said, “Millions of people
Pacific,” he added. around the world can now feel a glimmer of hope that their
For Seru, a passionate environmentalist, the environment, suffering will be addressed quickly and appropriately.”
particularly the restricted civil society space, was challeng-
ing. This challenge was lightened when Pacific Island nations 1.5 to survive
stepped in and granted delegation badges, allowing civil soci- The establishment of the loss and damage fund was a long
ety and youth delegates access to negotiation rooms. overdue win for all Pacific Island nations and small island
“This year more than half of the delegates had ‘Party of nations, however, the call to phase out fossil fuel and the 1.5
Party’ overflow badges,” Seru says. “This is a welcome sign degree promises of the Paris Agreement did not fare as well at
that indicates our Pacific Island Governments’ trust in civil the negotiation table.
society actors to work collaboratively to push our climate PICAN’s coordinator, Lavetanalagi Seru says this was a huge
demands.” disappointment. “This year we saw unprecedented access for
fossil fuel lobbyists, who made up 636 delegates and outnum-
Loss and Damage bered some of the official delegations.
A key issue for the Pacific was ‘loss and damage’ but it did “And they were granted spaces to promote a false solu-
not make it onto the agenda until the last minute. tion,” he continued.
The head of Fiji’s delegation to COP27, Permanent Rep- The Paris Agreement, which was adopted by 196 parties
resentative to the United Nations Dr. Satyendra Prasad, at COP21 in Paris, is a legally binding agreement on climate
stressed, “For simplicity’s sake, when the adaptation option is change. It is a goal to limit global warming, preferably by 1.5
no longer available, when you have to relocate communities, degrees Celsius, however based on the National Determined
you see a totally lost and damaged space.” Contributions Registry, the majority of the countries have not
He continued, “For other regions, loss and damage is a updated their progress.
thing for the future, so they are thinking about what will hap- Despite the plea from the Pacific delegation to achieve the
pen to their global farmland, that may be in a decade or two Paris 1.5 degree target and put pressure on major emitters,
decades. the outcome has only reiterated the need for countries to
“But the Pacific is not speaking of the future, it is hap- push for 1.5 degrees and has not produced anything substan-
pening in a very powerful way today, so the Pacific is able to tial.
speak with a real lived experience, with great frustration, and UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, said there were
urgency.” several issues that complicated this outcome. “2022 has been
This frustration and real experience is what pushed civil so- a year of ‘permacrisis’, with rising energy and food prices,
ciety to create the KIOA Climate Emergency Declaration. KIOA prolonged impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, an economic
is an island located in Buca Bay off the coast of Vanua Levu slowdown, and not least, geopolitical tensions,” he said.
in Fiji, and was purchased by the Matai of Vaitupu, Tuvalu in This makes the prospects of reducing emissions and provid-
1946. It is a 30-minute boat ride away from Rabi, which is ing the necessary climate finance to meet the 1.5 goal in
home to a migrant community originally from Banaba/Kiribati. the short term difficult, he believes. But perhaps the most
Naming the declaration for a place where communities whose challenging of all is that countries continue to hold different
rich culture, traditions, and the loss of their land and ocean views.
resources to climate change are real and heart-breaking, was The COP27 was held near Mount Sinai, which UN Secre-
a deliberate decision to bring reality to the loss and damage tary-General Antonio Guterres described as fitting because
discussion. “climate chaos, is a crisis of biblical proportions; instead of a
At Kioa, Pacific Conference of Churches General Secretary, burning bush, we have a burning planet.”
Rev. James Bhagwan, called for less talk and more action from He said while the loss and damage fund is welcome news,
leaders at COP27. there is a need to drastically reduce emissions now, “and this
“We see the need for our struggling communities to be resil- is an issue this COP did not address.”
ient. They have the indigenous knowledge and understand the “To have any hope of staying at 1.5, we need to massively
context; they are willing to do what it takes to adapt to the invest in renewables and end our addiction to fossil fuels,”
impacts of climate change, but they need help, and they need Guterres said.
it now, not when polluting countries finally feel charitable,” So the work continues. As Lavetanalagi Seru passionately
Bhagwan said. said, “As we head to COP28 in the United Arab Emirates, we…
So COP27’s decision to finally agree to establish a historic really need to push back hard.”
loss and damage fund was welcome news for small island na-
tions globally. editor@islandsbusiness.com

Islands Business, November 2022 19