What do changing attitudes to climate change mean for small island states?

What do changing attitudes to climate change mean for small island states?

Decades ago, small island states were the first countries to call for a concerted international effort to combat climate change. Highly vulnerable to extreme weather events and sea level rise, and highly dependent on resource-based economies, they recognized early on that their survival may well depend on the will of the international community to act.
Finally, after many false starts and repeated delays, the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change finally seemed to have put the world on the right track.
The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw the United States – historically the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases – from the treaty just two years later has again cast doubt on the future of some of the islands. the lowest in the world.
When President Joe Biden signed an executive order last month for the United States to join the Paris Agreement, the small islands breathed a collective sigh of relief. Other moves by the new administration inspire more optimism: former Secretary of State John Kerry will be Washington’s special envoy for climate change, and Brian Deese, who helped garner support from the Paris Agreement and a key player in Obama’s financial crisis recovery plan administration campaign, now heads the National Economic Council.
Biden also imposed a moratorium on oil and gas drilling on federal lands in the United States and called on government agencies to cut subsidies to the fossil fuel industry where they can. “We can’t wait any longer” to tackle the climate crisis, he said. “We see with our own eyes. We know it in our own bones. It’s time to act.”
These words mark a profound shift in the direction of the global compass on action to tackle climate change. But the experience of recent years demonstrates the fragility of the international climate change regime. What does all of this mean for island communities who are already grappling with the effects of climate?
It is well known that the Paris Agreement only asks countries to take voluntary action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – so-called “nationally determined commitments”. Such an approach was probably the only way to obtain the support of more than 190 signatories for such a complex diplomatic document. But getting that support comes at a cost: most notably, the ease with which big polluters can walk away from the deal.
I am not saying that a legally binding treaty is now necessary; it is best to have as many countries on board as possible. However, it probably means that we have to adapt our negotiations to reflect the realities of a voluntary system.
What if the climate negotiations became a forum for countries to showcase their climate successes and share best practices? Without the threat of legal sanctions to enforce behavior, national pride and innovation are the only levers we really have to motivate action.

It has taken far too long, but the tireless work of small islands on the international stage has helped bring us to the brink of a climate breakthrough.

Ahmed Sarir

Imagine if the climate change talks brought together renewable energy engineers, investors and climate policy experts in a solution-focused approach, rather than the adversarial approach that has often defined the process over the decades.
Significant progress has been made – it should be celebrated and these successes shared with the international community. We can only solve this problem together and that means amplifying our successes and learning from our missteps. The cost of wind and solar power continues to fall, for example, and is now more competitive than fossil fuels in many markets.
Countries are about to spend huge sums of money to get out of the current economic downturn. Why not do it in a way that tackles the climate crisis, as was done during the Great Recession?
Yet so much time has already passed that the small islands are already in trouble. Hurricanes, droughts and record floods continue to wreak havoc. Thus, the new approach to climate must include what is called “loss and damage”. It is a kind of disaster insurance scheme that helps highly vulnerable countries cope with loss and damage caused by sea level rise, supercharged storms and other effects that can no longer be avoided.
It has taken far too long, but the tireless work of small islands on the international stage has helped bring us to the brink of a climate breakthrough. And the swift action to ratify the Paris Agreement brought it into force in record time.
The same goes for national advocacy, as we saw in the recent US election. Activists on the ground must continue to pressure their elected officials to follow up on the actions to which they have committed. In a system of voluntary action on climate change, voters must be the final arbiters of accountability.
Like so many others, I celebrated the Biden administration’s new climate posture. And Washington’s re-engagement on the issue will help build political momentum as we head into the climate negotiations due to take place at the end of this year.
But let’s not forget, a climate treaty that does what is needed and that stands the test of time draws its strength from all of us, not just from one big country.

• Ahmed Sareer was Ambassador/Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the UN from 2012-2017 and Chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States from 2015-2017.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by the authors in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Arab News