Britain and other small island states call on big polluters – POLITICO

In a closed-door meeting at the UN on Monday, leaders of small island states denounced some of the world’s largest countries, China, India, Russia and the United States, with brutal lectures on the credibility of the global climate.

Small countries have not lost sight of the fact that just weeks before the big COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in November, they must have directed their contempt for envoys or lower-level ministers because the leaders who had been invited to the session did not bother to show.

Marshall Islands President David Kabua said his country was the first to raise its climate target under the Paris Agreement, officials in the room said quickly leaked details of the allegedly meeting. confidential. “How can we not be clear to all of us that it is time for the big emitters to show the same leadership? Kabua said.

“We talk and we talk about ambition… and things stay the same. This is absurd. Fortunately, this is not a public meeting because it would be weird to speak like that in a public meeting. But it is absurd. “, said the president of Costa. Rica Carlos Alvarado Quesada.

The United Nations General Assembly, which begins its main session on Tuesday, is an opportunity for countries to signal all they are prepared to do on key issues ahead of COP26, including reducing emissions and collecting emissions. funds for the poorest countries.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said it was “inexplicable that the world did not act and this suggests that we in the small islands must remain indispensable and remain invisible”.

The co-chair of the meeting and host of COP26, Boris Johnson, was also forced to reflect on its new status as a small island state.

British Prime Minister and UN Secretary General António Guterres had requested the presence of Chinese Xi Jinping, Russian Vladimir Putin, Indian Narendra Modi and his ally in the new AUKUS security alliance, US President Joe Biden , only for each of them to send an emissary or minister to listen. Brazilian Jair Bolsonaro and his officials completely snubbed the meeting, although they met Johnson later today.

This left the UK, ranked 17th on the list of global emitters, as the largest non-European polluter to have a leader.

“I admit that I am growing increasingly frustrated that the ‘something’ that many of you are committed to is nowhere near enough,” Johnson told the rally, according to a reading. “Too many large economies – some represented here today, others not present – are lagging too far behind.”

Alvarado Quesada, noting that Johnson had written a “very good book” on Winston Churchill, called for the emergence of a Churchill figure for climate change. “One leader can make a difference. So now we need the Boris factor, the Antonio factor … and in particular we need the Biden factor, the Xi factor and the Vladimir factor, to make things change.”

An angry Johnson didn’t hold back. “Climate change is realpolitik, ”he said. “And in the years to come, the only great powers will be the Green Powers… So you can look away, you can do the minimum, you can hope that if you feed the crocodile enough it will devour you last. Or you can show leadership.

Three days after the UN warned the world was on track to 2.7 degrees Celsius warming by the turn of the century, Johnson dropped all mention of “keeping 1.5 alive” – ​​in reference to the objective he set for the COP26 climate talks to maintain global warming. below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“We are going to have to demonstrate at COP26 how this gap is going to be closed,” Alok Sharma, the British minister in charge of the climate conference, told reporters later.

But Kabua, whose highest point in the Pacific atoll is only meters above sea level, said it was clear that with the impacts of climate change already on us, the world needed to focus more on funding projects that adapt to climate change. “Show those of us on the front lines that we’re in the same boat,” he said.

Sharma added that US climate envoy John Kerry had recommended at the meeting that those seeking the US to fill an estimated $ 17 billion gap in climate finance for developing countries. are expected to watch Biden’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. “A good announcement from the United States will make a difference in getting us across the line,” Sharma said.

Discussions on climate change at the annual UN meeting risk being overshadowed by the fallout from AUKUS – a new defense pact between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia aimed at countering the China, which broke with France over a canceled submarine deal. But Alvarado Quesada questioned any increase in military spending as the planet warmed further.

“It doesn’t make sense,” he said. “Maybe this is my mistake, I don’t understand. What are we fighting for? A planet that is not viable? That’s the question: compete for control what?

Emilio Casalicchio contributed reporting.

This article has been updated to include more details on Carlos Alvarado Quesada’s comments.

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