I am not from the Pacific region, and
I know many of my readers aren’t too, so I thought you may want to have a look
at the easy read summary of COP21, provided by the BBC, which has no specific
focus on the Pacific region.
Also a really simple 5 point summary on what COP21 means for change, written by UCL lecturer Simon Lewis and a business related one from the Carbon Trust
As COP21 draws to a close, WHO
secretary shoots down the haters (critics) of Climate Change, and points to the
Pacific islands as the example of how climate change has already caused
devastating irreversible damage. The first ever climate refugees are emerging
as some islands are submerging into the sea (Odiwuor, 2015).
Dame Taylor, Pacific Ocean
Commissioner told COP21 it has never been so important to amplify the Pacific
voice. Inaction will undermine our development aspirations and will result in
the destruction of unique and diverse cultures as well as the failure of the
Sustainable Development Goals (Pittman, 2015). Indeed this has been the time were the Pacific islands have an elevated voice. With their influence a more ambitious target of 1.5 degrees has been put forward, below the previous 2 degree target. Their role has highlighted moral issues, detracting from the usual concerns of economic concerns from the more polluting nations (Velde, 2015).
While most countries think of Climate Change in terms of economic costs, the Pacific islands picture a world map without them on it. Rising seas are already eroding coast line and contaminating freshwater wells. Many are threatened by increases in severity and frequency of typhoons and hurricanes, as well as the very real threat of having no land left to survive on. The vulnerability of the small islands provides them with an elevated platform despite their low impact on world affairs (Ritter, 2015).
At the start of the Paris talks last
week, U.S. President Barack Obama met with five leaders of island nations.
Secretary of State John Kerry has been discussing the envisioned Paris deal
with others, including Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga of Tuvalu, the poster child
of disappearing islands (Ritter, 2015).
The Europeans too, have been reaching out to small island leaders whom they see as useful allies in their attempts to get a strong binding climate pact at the conference which ends later today. The Islands are asking for a 'loss and damage' mechanism to ensure when they are hit by climate impacts such as extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change. This has made wealthy nations nervous. Originally the US did not want to be part of the agreement at all, worried it would pave the way for claims of liability and compensation. In the latest draft they suggested mentioning it in a section on adaptation to climate change (Ritter, 2015). But the small islands want a seperate section for 'loss and damage' to show it is not about adapting to climate change, but coping with unavoidable impacts, said Thoriq Ibrahim, the environment minister of the Maldives and chair of an alliance of small island nations (Ritter, 2015). In one of the first projects to be approved by the Green Climate Fund, a UN programme for poor nations impacted by climate change, the Maldives will receive $23.6 million to secure freshwater supply on its outer islands. An action which is set to become more often as climate change continues to adversely affect these small nations (Ritter, 2015).
The prospect of reparations to island
countries for the cost of adapting to climate change has caused a rift among
parties to the climate negotiations and raised fiendishly complex ethical and
legal questions. It can be seen as the moral challenge of our time, no one nation can take full responsibility of climate change, yet some form of support should be given to those suffering, which are generally the countries that have contributed the least to climate change. These moral issues need to encourage rich nations to take joint responsibility avoiding any blame, to help the nations most in need (Velde, 2015).
Pacific islands, and more
specifically the talks between the islands and the US has provided pressure on
other developed nations to increase their targets, one being New Sealand along with more than 100 other countries. They now back the so-called 'high amnition' target to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees as the global climate change talks in Paris head into what may be a final long night of negotiations (Smellie, 2015).
Mr Groser, New Zealands Climate Change Minister, is confident that the Paris conference will produce more favourable and impactful results than Copenhagen (Smellie, 2015).
