Dialogue vital ‘to solve crisis’
THE Minister for Commerce, Trade, Tourism and Transport, Faiyaz Koya highlighted the importance of dialogues on crucial issues such as increasing access to finance and improving response to climate impacts.
Minister Koya, in his capacity as acting Attorney-General, participated in a virtual Climate and Development Ministerial meeting recently where he spoke on such issues.
The meeting which was hosted by the incoming Conference of Parties 26 Presidency, Glasgow, United Kingdom was held to identify practical steps that countries can take, together with key multilateral organisations, to support the delivery of the Paris Agreement and Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in the world’s most climate vulnerable countries and communities.
Speaking at the virtual meeting, Minister Koya said there was an urgent need for more uniformed access modalities and criteria across major bilateral, multilateral and private sources of climate finance.
“What we need now is an unprecedented symbiotic push towards postpandemic socio-economic recovery that reinstates development gains lost since early 2020 and kick-start massive resource mobilisation to ensure that the recovery is sustainable, resilient and leaves no-one behind,” he proposed.
“We must not forget that the existential threat of climate change will persist much longer than any Pandemic. Our collective global efforts to solve the climate crisis will define our ability to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda and future proof our nations against other Pandemics.”
“Development partners must realise that truly transformative climate or development projects in developing countries need to be spread at least over 5 to 10 years to better enable structural reforms, techno-economic assessments, creation of robust business cases and an enabling environment for scalability,” he said.
Minister Koya adds that the climate finance landscape stretches the already limited capacity of developing countries, particularly Small Island Developing States to mobilise adequate finance for meaningful climate action.
“We call upon development partners and investors to channel finance into Fiji and let us help you ‘blue’ your portfolio. We also call upon you to help us structure new financial products such as blue bonds and debt for nature swaps that are tailor made to SIDS blue financing ambitions.”
He urged the Secretariat on the need to have meaningful follow ups after this Roundtable and suggested the need to have a high-level Working Group or a Task Force which would help operationalize the recommendations emanating from this discussion.
The United Kingdom will host the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 1 – 12 November 2021.