Failure is not an option for the region: SPREP

David Sheppard




As the incoming Director of SPREP, I see climate change as the key challenge facing Pacific Islands Countries and SPREP. It is also the key global concern.
Next month, the International community will come together for the 15th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework for the Convention on Climate Change.
These past few months have been busy with international talks and negotiations aimed at reaching an agreement on a negotiated outcome for a future climate change framework to be finalised in December.
The outcomes are of vital importance to the Small Islands Developing States given that we produce 0.03% of the world’s Greenhouse gases but are amongst the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
The Pacific has been actively involved in negotiations towards updating commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and engaging developing countries in mitigation actions. The most recent of negotiations was the Bangkok Climate Change talks in October.
There are two parallel tracks of negotiations being pursued by our region. One path looks at new commitments for industrialised countries for post-2012. The second path is to agree on a long-term cooperative action that would enable mitigation for developed countries. It also calls for the world to increase technical and financial support for adaptation to climate change.
The Bangkok talks have been described by our negotiators as a critical juncture in the overall process to a new agreement.
It is felt that while progress has been made in some areas, Pacific negotiators are seriously concerned over the slow pace of negotiations and the unwieldy nature of the current text.
The Pacific region took the lead for AOSIS on the issue of climate change adaptation during the Bangkok talks.
The Pacific islands are seeking a meaningful outcome that would produce concrete actions and support on the ground.
Our region is calling for increased financing, targeted technical support, strengthening of regional centers such as SPREP, and a multi-window insurance and risk reduction mechanism.
SPREP sees its role as supporting the efforts of Pacific Islands States to respond to climate change and, specifically, to offer practical guidance and assistance where necessary.
Science tells us that no matter what level of emission reductions are negotiated, the world is in a sense already “committed” to a level of climate change due to emissions already in the atmosphere. The Pacific will have to adapt and in order to adapt to the best of our potential, we need support.
The Pacific region has requested industrialised countries to provide support and to put forward ambitious reduction targets that are proportionate with what the science indicates.
Failure is not an option for us in the Pacific, or for the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS). The Pacific needs an outcome that guarantees a firm legal and institutional framework for action now, and up to and beyond 2012.
The negotiation process must deliver an outcome that is consistent in scale and substance with the urgency and ambition demanded by the science.
It is science which tells us that we must keep climate change to less than 1.5 degree Celsius temperature increase to safeguard all islands states.
With just one negotiating session left before the conference in Copenhagen, time is of the essence.
The Pacific needs and deserves an equitable and sustainable outcome from the Copenhagen climate change conference.