The United Nations Basic Meeting (UNGA) Excessive-Degree week climaxed for leaders of Small Island Growing States (SIDS) with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Leaders Assembly.
Leaders from the Pacific, Caribbean, and Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and South China Seas areas all got here collectively, together with United Nations officers on Friday in New York Metropolis, to stipulate the problems which have to be urgently addressed to attain sustainability and prosperity for SIDS.
Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, Prime Minister of Samoa and AOSIS Chair, was joined by different leaders together with UN Secretary Basic, António Guterres; President of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste, Jose Ramos-Horta; President of the Marshall Islands; David Kabua; President of Palau, Surangel Whipps Jr; President of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves; President of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan; President of Kiribati, Taneti Maamau; Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne; Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves; Prime Minister of St. Kitts, Dr. Terrance Drew; Government Secretary of the United Nations Framework(UNFCCC), Simon Steill; and extra.
The change targeted on points resembling accelerating entry to finance with the implementation of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI), and the extreme local weather change challenges which have to be addressed at this yr’s worldwide local weather change summit, COP28.
“Small island creating states are on the heart of a storm of worldwide issues you’ve gotten accomplished virtually nothing to create,” mentioned the UN Secretary Basic. “We want international motion to finish these crises. Small island states don’t lack ambition, they lack finance. Developed international locations should ship: honoring the promise of $100 billion US {dollars} a yr; replenishing the Inexperienced Local weather Fund; and delivering a roadmap to double adaptation finance by 2025.”
Additionally of significance was a dialogue on the Fourth Worldwide SIDS Convention, which can happen in Could 2024and be the platform for the worldwide neighborhood to concentrate on SIDS and work with SIDS leaders to chart a brand new 10-year motion plan to attain improvement objectives.
Prime Minister Mataʻafa highlighted the essential want for SIDS to strengthen cooperation as their areas faces escalating crises.
“As Small Island Growing States, we should acknowledge that regardless of our unwavering dedication, we grapple with enduring obstacles which have impeded our progress all through the final decade,” Prime Minister Mataʻafa mentioned. “Our management and unity are essential at this international juncture. We should leverage our collective strengths and make sure that we’re handled with respect, fairness and equity because the world seems in the direction of our collective future.”
The summit concluded with the adoption of the 2023 AOSIS Leaders Declaration, which notes that that SIDS face distinctive social environmental and financial vulnerabilities and stay a particular case for sustainable improvement, with particular wants and specific circumstances.
The Declaration outlines the collective positions of SIDS from all areas, specializing in a means ahead to make sure a productive Fourth Worldwide SIDS Convention, sustainable improvement aims, local weather change challenges, entry to finance for SIDS, safeguarding the ocean and its biodiversity, and objectives to be achieved at COP28 to deal with local weather change impacts.
On COP28 Outcomes, a number of the Declaration calls embrace:
– Phasing out all inefficient fossil gas subsidies, and making certain peaking of worldwide emissions earlier than 2025 and halving them by 2030, transitioning to international web zero international emissions by2050, with developed international locations taking the lead;
– Full operationalization of the Loss and Injury Fund;
– The International Stocktake consequence at COP28 have to be forward-looking and in gentle of fairness, and one of the best obtainable science;
– Developed international locations should urgently ship on their local weather finance dedication of USD $100 billion per yr;
– The International Aim on Adaptation negotiations ought to yield an bold framework to scale up progress on transformative adaptation actions, ship swift options and monetary assist.
Among the many calls on Finance are:
– The institution of a devoted debt remedy mechanism for SIDS to allow sound debt administration;
– The early adoption of the Multi-Dimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) by the UN Basic Meeting;
– Worldwide Monetary Establishments to acknowledge that GDP/GNI per capita is just not the only real measure of a rustic’s improvement;
– Enabling the Bridgetown Initiative to contribute to the reform of the worldwide monetary system with the intention to enhance the response to the local weather disaster and the actual improvement challenges.