Earth Today | ‘A reckoning with climate injustice’

SMALL ISLAND developing states (SIDS) are insisting that the upcoming global climate talks (COP31) must be a reckoning with climate injustice, in the face of a 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature overshoot and the misery that signals for vulnerable nations.

“We cannot look away. We have the science, the solutions, and the legal obligations. What must be demonstrated now is the political will to act and do right by our world,” said Ambassador Ilana Seid, chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which represents the interests of 39 small island and low-lying coastal developing states in international climate change and sustainable development negotiations.

“The possible overshoot of 1.5 degrees Celsius is a grave indictment of decades of climate inaction and the profound injustice that small island developing states continue to endure. We contributed the least to this crisis, yet we are bearing its harshest consequences,” she added.

The ambassador’s statement comes just ahead of this year’s COP, set for November 9 to 20 at the Antalya Expo Centre in Antalya, Türkiye.

The situation facing small island developing states, Seid said, is dire.

“Right now, a supercharged El Niño is intensifying drought across our island regions. In my home country of Palau, families are struggling to secure safe drinking water, crops are suffering, and livelihoods are disappearing as traditional crab harvests decline. In parts of the Caribbean, worsening rainfall deficits are threatening freshwater supplies, agriculture and food security,” she noted.

“Across the Pacific, millions face the risk of severe food and water shortages.

Behind every climate statistic is a child without safe drinking water, a parent unable to put food on the table, and a family facing the loss of its livelihood. This is the human cost of climate injustice, and it is being paid by those least responsible for the crisis,” Seid added.

Speaking on behalf of the group of 39 countries, she said there can, therefore, “be no waffling about 1.5 degrees Celsius”.

“It is the agreed temperature goal of the Paris Agreement, affirmed by the International Court of Justice and reinforced by the United Nations General Assembly. 1.5 degrees Celsius is not an ambition that can simply be discarded because the world has failed to act with the urgency required,” she maintained.

“The suggestion that impending overshoot should justify abandoning ambition is egregious. The science is clear: pathways exist to limit the magnitude and duration of overshoot and return warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But these pathways demand immediate, deep and sustained emissions reductions. Every fraction of a degree matters, and every moment of delay compounds the devastation our islands face,” she added.

Climate change, fuelled by the human consumption of fossil fuels, including oil, gas and coal that produce greenhouse gas emissions which trigger the warming of the planet and a variety of other impacts. These impacts include severe hurricanes and droughts by which Caribbean SIDS, such as Jamaica, have been burdened over the last few years.

Against this background, the AOSIS has put on notice that they will hold historical emitters and developed countries to account.

“The commitments made under the Paris Agreement and successive COP decisions cannot be allowed to fall by the wayside. We demand accelerated emissions reductions, implementation of the agreed global transition away from fossil fuels, and the fulfilment of climate finance obligations,” Seid said.

“Our countries need accessible, predictable and grant-based finance to implement adaptation and mitigation plans, alongside urgent replenishment of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. Commitments without the means to implement them are promises without substance,” she added.

“We enter COP31 amid profound geopolitical uncertainty, but political divisions cannot excuse inaction or absolve countries of their responsibilities. Small island developing states will remain united in defending a multilateral system that affords us a seat at the table, while demanding that it delivers. COP31 must be a reckoning with climate injustice,” she said further.

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