BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – In the previous couple of weeks, sadly, greater than 100 individuals have died from oppressive warmth in India. In Africa, whereas some nations are experiencing torrential rains, others undergo horrible droughts.
On the current Commonwealth Well being Ministers Assembly in Geneva, we collectively thought of how local weather change is growing the incidence of vector-borne illnesses – spreading malaria and different harmful illnesses, just like the current dengue outbreak in Samoa.
Commonwealth leaders have been calling for world motion on local weather change since 1989, earlier than a course of for worldwide negotiations even existed. According to their calls, local weather scientists have lengthy warned the world to restrict world warming to 1.5 levels Celsius to keep away from harmful tipping factors that would result in irreversible harm.
Worryingly, in February 2024, we breached this important milestone. International temperatures surpassed 1.5 levels Celsius over the previous 12 months, making it the most popular yr on report.
The World Meteorological Group warns that this report could possibly be smashed once more this yr, resulting in the lack of extra lives and livelihoods and inserting nationwide programs and companies below intense stress.
This stress is disproportionately borne by Small Island Growing States (SIDS). Regardless of making up solely 3% of the world’s land space, SIDS is important for the entire of humanity and the planet we share.
They safeguard 11.5% of the ocean’s Unique Financial Zones, which embrace 7 out of 10 coral hotspots and 20% of all terrestrial fowl, plant, and reptile species.
But SIDS experiences 5 occasions extra climate-attributable deaths on account of excessive climate occasions, and when shocks hit, our SIDS is hit laborious.
A cyclone or hurricane can knock a small or weak nation off its development trajectory for years if not a long time. In 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated my nation of beginning, Dominica, taking 225% of her GDP with it.
In 2019, shortly after Dorian, essentially the most highly effective hurricane to ever hit the Bahamas tore by the island nation, I visited the northern islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama. I used to be heartbroken to see what I may then solely describe as a warfare zone.
Final yr, Vanuatu was devastated by class 5 cyclone Lola, which hit seven months after twin cyclones Judy and Kevin had worn out 50% of her GDP.
The dearth of enough monetary help deepens the harm of those shocks.
Regardless of contributing only one p.c of all world carbon dioxide emissions, SIDS struggles to wish assist to unlock local weather finance. In 2019, that they had entry to solely $1.5 billion from the $100 billion pledged to growing nations.
With no various, these nations typically don’t have any possibility however to acquire financing on unfavorable phrases, leading to excessive debt burdens. This creates a vicious cycle the place debt turns into unsustainable and entry to finance turns into much more restricted.
The Commonwealth is residence to two-thirds of the world’s SIDS, and this distinctive convergence of hardships is on the coronary heart of my motivation to champion and help SIDS at each degree.
SIDS has additionally been saying sufficient is sufficient and is main the cost to reset our local weather finance ambitions. At COP28, Commonwealth SIDS was on the forefront of hard-won progress on Loss and Harm.
Samoa, the Commonwealth’s incoming Chair-In-Workplace, joined different small islands and weak nations on the 4th Worldwide Convention on Small Island Growing States (SIDS4) in Antigua and Barbuda. Leaders known as for ‘collective quantified finance targets and funding’ to assist them take care of frequent and intensifying pure disasters.
The Commonwealth is working to make sure that SIDS’ voices are heard on the highest degree of the worldwide system whereas offering sensible help in important areas akin to finance and catastrophe resilience.
The Commonwealth Local weather Finance Entry Hub has unlocked US$330 million for our most weak members, with one other $500 million price of mission proposals within the pipeline.
Our nationwide local weather finance advisers work shoulder-to-shoulder with authorities officers throughout our member nations. They put together mission proposals and construct governments’ capability to face the challenges of local weather change and improvement.
For years, leaders from these nations have taken the steps wanted to transition towards low-carbon, climate-resilient improvement.
However dependable local weather finance is vital to scaling up this motion. The Commonwealth Secretariat will proceed to advocate for elevated funding for adaptation, mitigation, and resilience-building, which is a lifeline for weak nations.
Our dedication to local weather change just isn’t new; it’s a part of the Commonwealth’s DNA, and our historical past of environmental management continues to information us right now.
Our subsequent Commonwealth Heads of Authorities Assembly (CHOGM) will happen in Samoa in October this yr—the primary CHOGM in a Pacific Small Island State—with a transparent give attention to constructing the resilience important for every of our 56 nations to thrive.
If we’re to attain this, the world should hold its guarantees. Each dedication to local weather motion and finance made by world leaders is important – however each failure to satisfy these commitments is an insult to essentially the most weak, and each instance of inaction is an act of violence in opposition to those that want us to succeed, now and for generations to come back.
The decision to motion on local weather finance will proceed to resound from Commonwealth SIDS on the UN Normal Meeting in September to the negotiations at COP29 in Baku in November. It have to be heeded.
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