Finding strength in numbers - Pacific stands firm with AOSIS

AOSIS meeting

Durban, South Africa, 30 November 2011 - Pacific delegations present at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP17, currently underway in Durban are standing firm with the Alliance of Small Island States on key positions under negotiation.

“We must be solid in what we do and continue to advocate that on climate change issues we should remain together,” urged the President of Kiribati from his island home at the forefront of the impacts of climate change in the Pacific.

Fourteen Pacific island countries are represented at COP17 under the banner of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). They are the Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

The Kyoto Protocol must live on

In collaboration with other island nation members of AOSIS from Africa, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean and South China Sea, the Pacific joined the grouping in consolidating the call for strong decisions around the Kyoto Protocol.

“We must adopt a decision that establishes a 5-year second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, to run from 2013 to 2017, with a single, legally-binding, base year of 1990, as part of a two-track outcome,” said a statement from AOSIS.

“This two track outcome must include the adoption of a mandate to negotiate a legally-binding instrument under the Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA) with negotiations to be concluded by December 2012.

“This timeframe is needed to ensure legally-binding commitments and actions from all major emitters commencing on January 1, 2013.”

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement that sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions over the five-year period 2008-2012.

“Durban must deliver an ambitious outcome with three essential elements,” said the AOSIS statement, including “certainty that there will be a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol with an enhanced set of rules to strengthen its environmental integrity.

“We must have a “Durban Mandate” to capture the work of the AWG-LCA in the form of a new, legally binding protocol next year at COP18.”

AOSIS called on the new instrument to complement the Kyoto Protocol with binding mitigation commitments for non-Kyoto Parties and mitigation actions for developing countries, as well as address all other elements of the Bali Action Plan.

Tokelau targets 100% renewable energy

Delegation from Tokelau with Faipule Foua Toloa (middle)

Durban, South Africa, 30 November - By September next year, the 1,500 residents on the island nation of Tokelau will be 100% renewable energy efficient. That’s the strong message the Faipule Foua Toloa, the Ulu or titular heard of Tokelau is sharing far and wide in Durban South Africa. 

A delegation of three from Tokelau are at the UN Climate Conference, attending the different events and meetings that take place alongside the climate negotiations which has brought together over 20,000 delegates.

“People are amazed by our strong message that we are sharing with the world,” said Toloa.

“Although we are the smallest of the small we have a great vision with leaders in our community such as our elders and our fono are committed to this. It is a very expensive project but we are doing it.” 

The total project will cost Tokelau 8.5 million dollars that will result in a 93% photovoltaic system with coconut oil hybrid as a reserve. Tokelau is borrowing funds for this project, but is still seeking support to help the island nation reach their target. 

“When we looked at the costs we learnt that we spend so much money to buy fossil fuel that we’ll be recovering these costs in the next five years and we can use those funds in other development areas.” 

The population of Tokelau resides on three atolls which make up the nation that is currently under New Zealand administration. The delegation of three from Tokelau are attending the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework to the Convention on Climate Change under the New Zealand badge.

Tokelau declared a state of emergency in October this year after six months without substantial rain. It lies in the Pacific typhoon belt and it is understood that the highest point for the island nation is 5 meters. In the face of this climate change adversity, Tokelau is persevering to make a difference.

“We are challenging the world with our renewable energy targets. We cannot sit and pity ourselves that we are amongst one of the first countries to go under water – the smallest and the lowest. We can make a difference and begin to do something.”

The Green Climate Fund: Pacific urges action – no renegotiation

Samoa's Ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Aliioaiga Feturi Elisaia at the Pacific strategy meeting for UNFCCC COP 17

Durban, South Africa, Tuesday 29th November 2011 - Pacific delegations at the United Nations Climate Change Conference currently underway in Durban, South Africa, are pushing for agreement on the Green Climate Fund.  

It is anticipated that the Green Climate Fund will channel a significant portion of the US$100 billion a year promised by developed countries by 2020 to help developing countries effectively responding to Climate Change. 

"We have spent quite some time trying to design the new Green Climate Fund,” said Samoa’s ambassador to the United Nations, Aliioaiga Feturi Elisaia. Ambassador Feturi is also the Pacific SIDS representative on the Transitional Committee of the Green Climate Fund, tasked with developing the modalities of the fund for consideration at the Climate Change Conference this week.

"It’s important that in Durban we reach agreement to progress towards operationalising the Fund,” stressed Ambassador Feturi.

But keen observers of the Climate Change Conference say that powerful developed countries may utilize the Fund as a bargaining chip to seek gains in other areas of negotiation. 

The United States, for instance, announced last week it did not support the Green Climate Fund proposal from the Transitional Committee, seeking more clarity on private sector involvement in the Fund. Saudi Arabia has also voiced its opposition to the proposed Fund, calling for response measures to be included in the scope and objectives of the fund. Response measures as currently argued by Saudi Arabia include compensation for oil-producing countries for revenue lost due to climate change actions. 

“It is important for us to capture some of the gains that are already in the report to try and resist any renegotiation,” said Ambassador Feturi, maintaining that for the Pacific, accessing the fund is critical. 

“We acknowledge that for us in the Pacific, accessing those funds will be a challenge due to our island countries’ limited resources to deal with these procedures,” said the Ambassador. “That is why we (the Transitional Committee) purposely included reference to utilising regional organisation resources for those who have capacity constraints. Everybody should have access to the Fund, whether through national means or regional organisations.”

Ambassador Feturi added that the report of the Transitional Committee looks at simplifying some of the procedures to access the Green Climate Fund. It also seeks to strengthen the ability of countries to access the Fund, including through providing support for planning and for project proposal development.

I think it is important for submissions to the Fund to be aligned with countries’ own national development plans – it’s the countries themselves who need to determine that, and they need to develop their skills to do this effectively.

If the Transitional Committee report on operationalising the Green Climate Fund is approved in Durban, its Board will be setup as soon as possible. The Board will review expressions of interests and make recommendations on the selection of the host country for the Fund for endorsement at next year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Qatar.

“It will be important for the Pacific to be represented on the Board, for we, as a climate change vulnerable region, obviously have a vested interest in this important process,” said Ambassador Feturi.

The Climate Change Conference, UNFCCC COP 17, opened on 28 November and will close 9 December, for more information on this please visit: http://www.unfccc.int/

The Pacific in Durban - COP 17

Seeking urgency and effective outcomes

Durban, South Africa, 28 November 2011 - At the forefront of climate change impacts, the vulnerable islands of the Pacific remain a critical influence at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) that opened today in Durban, South Africa.

Some 20,000 delegates from around the world are attending the COP17 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Fourteen Pacific island countries are represented at COP17 under the banner of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) which is an intergovernmental organisation of low-lying coastal and small Island countries from around the world.

 

Pacific members of AOSIS include the Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

“Climate Change will be the dominant feature of our future development, or our future demise,” said President of Kiribati, HE Anote Tong, from his island home of low-lying atolls struggling against the rising tides of the Pacific. 

“I think a lot of countries do not understand that the impacts of Climate Change range over a very wide spectrum, from the most immediate and the most urgent, to those who do not feel it at the moment,” said President Tong. 

“We are at the end of the spectrum which means that we are facing the problem today, yesterday, and our communities are being threatened.”

Financing – key issue for the Pacific

President Tong stressed that an agreement on financing in Durban will be vital for the Pacific.

“We must have that financing. I’m not raising the question of our future here because it’s virtually unthinkable. The problem is here - we are facing the problem today.”

Samoa’s ambassador to the United States, Aliioaiga Feturi Elisaia, echoed President Tong’s sentiments.

“We are at the frontline of the impacts of climate change in the Pacific, so for us it is not something that is theoretical,” said Ambassador Feturi.

“Our people are living through the real impacts of climate change –increased severity of tropical cyclones, significant coastal erosion, threats to fresh water supplies and food security.”

Ambassador Feturi was the Pacific representative on the Transitional Committee of the Green Climate Fund presenting its report on the design of the fund to COP17 for consideration. It is anticipated that the Green Climate Fund will channel a significant amount of the US$100 billion a year promised by developed countries by 2020 to help developing countries deal with Climate Change.

The UNFCCC COP 17 opened on 28 November and will close 9 December, for more information on this please visit: www.unfccc.int

AOSIS Rejects Delay Until 2020

Demands Urgency for climate agreement: AOSIS Press Release

Ambassador Dessima Williams with Pacific delegates

Durban, South Africa, 28 November, 2011 - The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) says it will not accept outcomes at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP17 that propose to delay any new binding agreement or more ambitious emissions reductions until 2020, as these cannot safeguard the livelihoods and guarantee the survival of our nations.

On the eve of the opening of the Durban Climate Conference, Ambassador Dessima Williams, Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations and Chair of AOSIS cautioned that if Durban puts off a legally binding agreement and closes the door on raising mitigation ambition before 2020 many of our small island states will be severely threatened.

"AOSIS is calling on the Durban conference to deliver agreement on a second five-year commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, a process to rapidly ramp up mitigation ambition, and a mandate to quickly conclude a new parallel legal agreement in 2012 to cover those not bound by the Kyoto Protocol," she said.

“After a year of record emissions growth and the hottest temperatures on record, the push by the world’s biggest carbon polluters to delay flies in the face of the overwhelming evidence in support of immediate action and represents a betrayal of the people most vulnerable to climate change and the world.

“To fulfill our moral and ethical obligation to protect our people, AOSIS will here in Durban reject any outcome that cannot ultimately safeguard our livelihoods and guarantee the survival of our nations. Why would we ever agree to a deal that has as its ultimate and inevitable consequence our own demise? If Durban puts off a legally binding agreement and closes the door on raising mitigation ambition before 2020 many of our small island states will be literally and figuratively doomed.

“As noted last week by the International Energy Agency, delaying action until 2017 would close the door to any hope of keeping warming below 2°C, and put humanity on a course to the devastation of 4°C of warming and many metres of sea-level rise. The proposed 2020 timeline would also leave more than five years between the next report of the IPCC (due in 2014) and a new round of emission reduction commitments.

 

“It is a betrayal not just of small island nations, many of whom would be destined for extinction, but a betrayal of all humanity. There are no plausible technical, economic or legal impediments for not taking the actions required by science – we need to act now!”

Gender talk at the Climate conference in Durban

Ulamila Wragg front left

Durban, South Africa, 28 November - The Pacific Gender Climate Coalition is bringing to the Climate Conference in Durban a message that gender responsiveness in any climate change work should be fundamental.

“Gender is not only about women but both men and women as we all have to respond to the impacts of climate change and for any project or activity addressing adaptation or mitigation must be gender responsive,” says Ms. Ulamila Wragg, the Pacific Coalition Coordinator.

“Apart from negotiations I am also hoping to forge partnerships that to further gender work in climate change adaptation and mitigation.”

She added that the Cook Islands now have a gender policy with Climate Change as one of its outputs and their Gender and Development Division has done a mapping on how these outputs should be furthered.

Wragg hopes to seek support to develop gender indicators to monitor the impacts of climate change and disaster preparedness on women and men, as well as build the capacity of institutions involved in Disaster Risk Management and Climate change to mainstream gender.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change COP 17 Meeting began today on 28th November and ends on 9th December bringing together over 20,000 delegates from around the world.

PACC prepares for COP17

L - R Setaita Tavanabola (PACC), Casper Supa Solomon Islands, Paula Taufa Tonga

Durban South Arfrica 26 November 2011 - The Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Project will be showcased at the 17th Conference of Parties from 28 November to 10 December in Durban, South Africa that will bring together over 15,000 delegates.



Paula Taufa, Tonga



Two years since its inception the PACC Project brings with it on-the-ground climate change adaptation experience and lessons learnt and hopes to share this with the global community.

 “PACC is here to inform the global community what the project is and the achievements to date," said Project Manager Taito Nakalevu. 

“This will help contribute to the climate change debate and discussions – particularly in Finance on the issue of additionality and operationalizing the guideline on the Special Climate Change Fund. It’s important we share our experiences with the global community.”

Three national PACC coordinators will be sharing their lessons learnt under the project at a side event on Saturday 3 December in the Rio Conventions Pavilion from 12.00 – 1.30pm; Samoa under the Coastal Zone Management Sector, Tonga under the Water Resource Management Sector and Solomon Islands on the Food Production and Food Security Sector.

Moira Faletutulu, Samoa

The PACC Project has 14 member countries under three development sectors - Samoa, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Tokelau and the Federated States of Micronesia under the Coastal Zone Management Sector; Fiji, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea under the Food Production and Food Security Sector; and under the Water Resource Management Sector is Tuvalu, Niue, Nauru, Tonga and Republic of Marshall Islands.

The Project is implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in partnership with SPREP. It is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) with support from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.

Pacific at International climate conference

Pacific delegates in a working group

Durban, South Africa, 23 November 2011 - Pacific survival is what the region is negotiating for during the Climate conference in Durban over the next three weeks.  The 17^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework to the Convention on Climate Change is hosted in South Africa.

Preparations for a strong Pacific voice included a one day Pacific strategy meeting coordinated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Durban.  This is followed by a two day preparatory meeting with the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) which the Pacific is part of, to form a stronger negotiating block during the discussions with over 190 parties.

“These negotiations are crucial for the survival of the Pacific region,” said Espen Ronneberg, SPREP’s climate change adviser.

SPREP's Diane Mcfadzien and Espen Ronneberg

“Many pacific communities feel the impact of climate change now and we can’t sit by and let this happen to us, by being here and arguing our case we take every step we can for Pacific survival.  Our one day meeting was to help strengthen our united Pacific ‘asks’ and strategically plan our way forward for the next three weeks.” 

For the Pacific, climate change has impacted upon the lives of many people.  In October this year Tuvalu and Tokelau declared a state of emergency due to drought conditions with the Cook Islands and Samoa experiencing several water shortages.  In the Solomon Islands and Federated States of Micronesia, traditional food crops are now difficult to grow because of salt water inundation.

L - R: Delegates from Palau and Marshall Islands

Climate change is caused by greenhouse gas emissions; AOSIS is asking for countries to commit to deeper emission cuts.  Science shows the Pacific region currently contributes to less than 0.03% of the World’s total greenhouse gases however we are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. 

“This is just one of the issues that the Pacific is negotiating at the Conference of the Parties we have many other negotiating agenda issues to follow over the next three weeks.”

Quick information on the Gigatonne gap

Total annual emissions must be reduced to no more than 44 gigatonnes by 2020 and continue to fall thereafter to avoid a temperature increase of over 2.0 degrees Celsius.   An even steeper decline is needed to keep warming well below 1.5 degrees to avoid devastating impacts.

Last year emissions pushed 48 gigatonnes.

To learn more about the Gigatonne Gap, visit:  http://climatepasifika.blogspot.com/2011_10_05_archive.html

For more information on the UNFCCC COP 17 in Durban, please visit: http://www.cop17-cmp7durban.com/

Climate change ministers meet in Beijing ahead of Durban summit

02 November 2011 Beijing (China Daily) --- Climate-change ministers from Brazil, South Africa, India and China, also known as the BASIC countries, have reached a consensus on a range of issues - including the Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol - a month in advance of a conference in Durban, South Africa.

 

"There must be a Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol," said Xie Zhenhua, China's top climate change official, after the Ninth BASIC Ministerial Meeting on Climate Change in Beijing on Tuesday.

"Countries should take action and put their promises into practice before 2020 and then further discuss the issues after that date on the basis of scientific analysis," Xie said.

The extension of the Kyoto Protocol became a major focus of climate change negotiations after some countries opposed the Second Commitment Period at talks in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010.

According to the protocol, developed countries are subject to binding targets on greenhouse gas emissions, while developing economies make their cuts on a voluntary basis. Japan, Russia and Canada have rejected an extension of the Kyoto agreement.

Xie said all countries are able to make proposals and suggestions, according to the principles of openness and transparency at the talks, but that all decisions should be based on the common understandings that the countries have reached in the past 20 years and the principles of equal, common, but differentiated, responsibility.

There is disagreement among the parties on whether or not to replace the Second Commitment of the Kyoto Protocol with a new protocol, a new instrument or a new system, said Alf Wills, South Africa's Conference of the Parties chief negotiator.

"What we hope to achieve, I think, is a common goal of all the BASIC countries and we hope to achieve a Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol," said Wills.

"It's the view of the BASIC countries that the rule-based system of the Kyoto Protocol provides the benchmark and the cornerstone for the future of a climate change regime or system that we would want to see," said Wills.

"We believe very strongly that there should be an extension of the Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol," said Jayanthi Natarajan, the minister of state, environment and forests of India.

Ministers agreed that the Durban talks should achieve a comprehensive, fair and balanced outcome, according to a joint statement from the BASIC countries.

A Second Commitment Period of the Kyoto Protocol is the "essential priority" for the success of the Durban conference, the statement said.

The ministers emphasized that financing will be another pressing priority in the negotiations when they meet in Durban.

They agreed that the conference should decide to initiate the operation of the Green Climate Fund, thereby ensuring adequate financial support for developing countries, and they urged the developed countries to capitalize the fund from their public resources.

The developed countries have already committed to provide a combined $30 billion as "fast-start" funding for the project and then to increase that figure to $100 billion annually between 2013 and 2020 to avoid a funding gap.