Prime Minister Gaston Browne said on Friday, that the United Nations Climate
Change Conference (COP 28), to be held in Dubai in November, will be crucial for
the future of the planet, particularly small island development states (SIDS).
“Not only does COP28 come at a time when the world is witnessing climate chaos
firsthand, but this summit is particularly important because it will include a global
stock take. Countries will assess how far they have come on cutting planet-heating
pollution,” Browne told the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly
(UNGA).
COP 28 takes place in Dubai from November 30 to December 12, and Prime
Minister Browne told the international community the awful truth that is already
clear. He stated that “eight years after the climate agreement in Paris, global
progress has been far from sufficient.”
“The world is currently not in line with the temperature targets outlined in the Paris
Agreement.
According to the European Union’s Climate Change Service, this year’s June to
August period was not only the warmest since 1940, but it also saw temperatures
soaring towards 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.”
Browne said that a red line, once deemed sacrosanct, will be crossed, if urgent
action is not taken, saying warnings have turned to imminent danger.
“Therefore, what was already a crucial matter for action at COP28 has now
become an imperative for action, and that is the Loss and Damage Fund for which
small island states have been praying, pleading, and begging.”
Prime Minister Browne recalled that at the COP27 last year, the world’s greatest
polluters agreed, only at the last minute, that such a fund was important.
“But an agreement was not established. What we got was the formation of a
transitional committee to make recommendations for consideration at COP28. The
issue was once again deferred.”
“Now we must insist at COP28, that the loss and damage fund must be made
operational and adequately funded. It must also provide sufficient financing to help
SIDS withstand the inevitable ruin that the actions of the major polluters are
continuing to wreak.”
Prime Minister Pierre, who is also the co-chair of the Commission of Small Island
States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS), warned that if COP28
fails in this critical mission, it risks undermining global trust, potentially
sabotaging cooperative efforts on myriad global challenges.
“It is my ardent hope that when we gather in Dubai, the shared spirit of
responsibility will prevail, such that the dying embers of hope can be reignited by
the flame of action,” he said.
