Small island developing nations are ‘on the sharp end of a colossal injustice’ when it comes to climate change, UN Secretary General António Guterres has told COP29 in Baku.
Guterres was addressing the COP29 Leader’s Summit of Small Island Developing States on Climate Change, in which he noted that island nations face the burden of rising seas, record hurricanes and broken economies as a result of climate change, an injustice that is “perpetrated by the few” – namely the G20, which account for around 80% of global emissions.
‘An injustice that must end’
“It is an injustice that must end,” Guterres commented. “Your nations – the Small Island Developing States – are demonstrating what climate ambition looks like. You are the first responders. The world must follow you. And it must support you.”
Guterres outlined a three-part response framework to address the crisis facing small island developing nations, which should be led by aggressive efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, including an annual emissions reduction of 9% through 2030, a swift phase-out of fossil fuels, and a commitment from all countries to align their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with the 1.5-degree target by COP30.
Loss and Damage Fund
Elsewhere, Guterres urged significant contributions to the Loss and Damage Fund to help such nations cope with climate-induced impacts.
“Every one of you must have the chance to build resilience,” he said. “And to seize the benefits of adaptation to drive progress across the sustainable development goals.”
He stressed the importance of adaptation financing, urging developed countries to double their adaptation contributions to $40 billion annually by 2025.
Pact for the Future
Finally, Guterres described the complex financial challenges that small island states face, worsened by debt, high capital costs, and the economic fallout from COVID-19. To address this, he called for the implementation of the recently adopted Pact for the Future, which includes reforms to the international financial architecture, enhanced debt relief, and the provision of concessional finance.
“Starting here and now, we need a new climate finance goal that mobilises the trillions of dollars of finance developing countries need – with a significant increase in concessional public funds,” the UN chief noted. “It must also include major capitalisation boosts and reforms of the Multilateral Development Banks, including so they can leverage far more private finance at reasonable costs.” Read more here. [Photo: UN Climate Change – Kiara Worth]
