As country climate change heads converge at key international meeting, small island nations question how bigger countries’ fossil fuel expansion aligns with urgent need to curb global emissions.

Baku, Azerbaijan; 26th July, 2024

As the COP29 Heads of Delegation retreat commences, small island developing states noted with extreme concern the intention of many countries to expand oil and gas exploration. A number of Caribbean countries are still reeling from the multi-million-dollar destruction caused by Hurricane Beryl, the historic storm which broke records as the earliest category 5 hurricane to ever impact the region. Alarmingly, scientists also announced that this past Monday 22nd July was the hottest day ever recorded on Earth.

“Talk without commitment on climate action is cheap for bigger countries, but our small island developing states pay the ultimate price with loss of our lives, livelihoods, and invaluable ecosystems,” said Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Ambassador Fatumanava Dr. Pa’olelei Luteru. “This COP29 Heads of Delegation meeting comes at a crucial time where climate change is showing its real, costly impacts. We cannot accept lip service on commitments to cut emissions. Our international colleagues and partners must understand that every single tonne of emissions they put into our world’s atmosphere comes falling down to crush the most vulnerable people on our planet.”

A milestone outcome of last year’s pivotal UN climate change conference, COP28, was the global agreement to transition away from fossil fuels.

The COP29 Presidency has convened this meeting to bring high-level climate change negotiators together for critical discussions on a New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance, the NCQG, and to ensure progress is made on negotiations across all pillars of the Paris Agreement.

For AOSIS, this is a crucial moment to ensure countries get back on track with new and ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions to keep global warming under a 1.5°C limit, to avoid irreversibly catastrophic consequences.

“COP29 needs to give particular focus to operationalising the energy package of the Global Stocktake outcome – tripling renewable energy use and doubling energy efficiency while transitioning away from fossil fuels,” said the AOSIS Chair. “Critically, implementation of the energy package must be done in line with the science and 1.5oC at every step.”

AOSIS noted that the NCQG is a major milestone and must be an ambitious finance goal that delivers accessible finance to SIDS at scale, on time, and on terms that do not increase an already unmanageable debt burden.

“For AOSIS the new goal must provide a minimum allocation for SIDS. In so doing, the international community will finally begin to direct climate finance towards SIDS and LDCs under the Paris Agreement, ensuring their protection and wellbeing. For us, the goal needs to strengthen efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions to keep global warming below 1.5 C, build adaptive capacity and foster resilience, and address loss and damage.”

The COP29 Heads of Delegation Retreat is being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from July 26th – 28th, 2024.