• Thank you for convening this meeting. I am speaking on behalf of AOSIS and, in fact,
calling in from Copenhagen.
• Noting the time, let me recap several key points.
• Colleagues, the resounding message from the IPCC AR6 reports, is that we must
deliver nothing short of transformation – to paraphrase, transformation and system
transitions in energy, coastal and freshwater ecosystems, infrastructure, industry and
society – if we are to manage the climate crisis.
• Without immediate and aggressive mitigation, we will have ineffective adaptation
action, and an exponential increase in loss and damage.
• We saw COP26 rally around 1.5°C, but today’s energy insecurity is cover for
backtracking on pronounced ambition. The war is not an excuse to let 1.5 to slip out
of reach. Energy-related CO2 emissions rose by 6% last year; nearly half of this
increase was due to more coal. AOSIS calls for a system to track Glasgow decisions
on phasing down coal and phasing out fossil fuel subsidies.
• I remind you that even transient overshoot of 1.5 means catastrophic, irreversible
impacts on small islands. The global architecture is a moral hazard, where each tonne
of emissions adds to warming, but does not bear the cost to vulnerable peoples.
• Loss and damage is political. The first Glasgow Dialogue is proposed for a technical
level; it should be held at least among Ministers, if not higher. The topic of Loss and
Damage financing has spun its wheels among technicians for 30 years. Political
leadership is required.
• On mitigation, current policies lead to 3.2-degrees of warming. Major economies
need to ramp up ambition and implementation in tandem to counter hollow pledges.
• AOSIS asks that all developed countries and major economies come to the UN
General Assembly in September with renewed NDC ambition aligned to a 1.5-pathway
with no overshoot, and concrete plans for net-zero, to inform the Synthesis Reports
on Ambition.
• The mitigation work programme should catalyze 1.5-alignment in sectors responsible
for emissions, according to the IPCC, in order of priority: Energy supply (34%),
Industry (24%), Agriculture and AFOLU (22%), Transport (15%), and Buildings (6%).
We urge the COP Presidencies not to wait for COP27 to begin substantive work on
the mitigation work programme. There is no time to delay.
• Let us agree that 2023 will be the year global emissions decline, for the first time in
modern history, without a worldwide pandemic shutdown. This does not require any
new COP decisions: it requires action and follow-through.
• On adaptation, the finance gap is large and growing, with needs outpacing scalingup plans.
• Doubling adaptation finance is a good faith gesture, but AOSIS calls for a quantitative
and time-bound delivery and tracking plan from developed countries by COP27, with
clear burden sharing.
• On finance, it is time to meet the $100bn. Developed countries should report pledges
for 2022, before COP27. Finance commitments should total at least $100 billion.
• We remind developed countries of their commitment to provide biennial finance
projection reports for 2023-2024 and call for these prior to COP27. Submissions
should outline support for SIDS in line with Articles 9(3) and 9(9) of the Paris Accord.
• Simplified access to finance is a perennial call that goes unanswered. AOSIS
recommends a concrete step: establish a forum for climate finance providers by 2023
to simplify and harmonize their procedures.
• Finally, to accelerate financial alignment of the world economy’s $94 trillion – the third
goal of the Paris Agreement – we should launch a dedicated work programme.
• AOSIS will continue this messaging in the May Ministerial over the coming days in
Copenhagen. Thanks for convening the meeting.