‘Countries must take urgent action to reduce global emissions’
UK minister calls on developed nations to fulfil promise of giving $100 billion annually to assist vulnerable countries
MEMBER of the British Cabinet and president-designate for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) Alok Sharma says it is now critical that developed countries remain faithful to, and advance actions on their promise to raise at least $100 billion annually, to assist vulnerable countries in the fight against climate change.
Sharma says countries such as Jamaica are suffering disproportionately from the effects of climate change, despite having made almost no contribution to the crisis.
“Jamaica is one of those countries which is on the front line of the climate crisis and yet it itself has done next to nothing to create this particular crisis. Jamaica remains a leading advocate for urgent climate action,” the British MP said. “I am absolutely determined that COP 26 will deliver for them”.
He was speaking with journalists yesterday at the British High Commission in St Andrew, during a two-day working visit, which is part of a wider tour of several Caribbean countries, including Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda.
During his visit, Sharma met with Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, and Environment Minister Pearnel Charles Jr, to reaffirm the countries’ commitment to strong collaboration, and ensuring that COP 26 delivers, particularly for countries that are most vulnerable to climate change. Jamaica and Britain are co-chairs of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) partnership, the nucleus of the Paris Agreement, which supports each country’s efforts to reduce emissions, and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Sharma said it is critical now that donor countries outline their roadmaps to fulfil the $100-billion goal, and that he was determined that this promise is delivered. “One of the things that we are going to need to do to get trust into the system is to show and articulate a very clear plan as to how this $100 billion is going to be delivered,” he said.
Additionally, he said attention is being placed on attracting private sector investment to help tackle climate change, with climate resilient infrastructure, to facilitate a clean switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy for example.
The UK says it is doubling its own commitment to help developing nations with £11.6 billion over the next five years up to 2025/2026. Contributions have continued to miss the mark, with only an estimated $78.9 billion of climate finance mobilised from donor countries in 2019.
Sharma argued that in addition to strengthening efforts to protect people and nature from the effects of climate change, finance flows to climate action must be increased. He stressed that during this decisive decade for climate action, “we have to get this right” as “We are at a critical point for our planet”. He said countries must take urgent action to reduce global emissions, to keep the goals of the international climate treaty, to control and limit the planet’s temperature rise to 1.5. This is the ambition that we have to keep alive,” Sharma said.
He pointed out that collectively, countries will have to halve their emissions by 2030, if that target is to be met: “This is the decisive decade and that’s why COP 26 matters so much for countries around the world”.
As part of reaching the temperature goal, all governments are being asked to set out plans for cutting emissions by 2030, and a target year by which they will move to net zero emissions.
“Ahead of COP 26, the G20 countries have a responsibility to follow the lead of countries like Jamaica (and) other countries which are small island developing states,” he stated.
Sharma and British High Commissioner to Jamaica Asif Ahmad pointed to events such as Tropical Storm Elsa, which demonstrated the reality of climate change. “What we saw once again was not the most severe of tropical storms, but it had a real impact with landslides, urban roads impacted, so it’s not just about one-off catastrophic events, it’s the daily impact of climate change,” Ahmad said. At the same time, the COP26 president-designate said there is increasing awareness of climate change in Jamaica and around the region, not just among civil society, but at the policy, and corporate levels, but he emphasised that the agenda needs to be propelled, quickly.
The next four months leading up to Glasgow meeting will be used to “turbo charge” those efforts, he said. World leaders have so far agreed that COP 26 will show up for the summit, notwithstanding the pandemic. Sharma said leaders are assured of their safety as Britain with partnership from the UN and others have offered to vaccinate delegates who were not able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in their home countries.
“It will give people confidence to travel to the UK. We want to see a physical meeting in Glasgow, I think the measures that we are putting in place will allow us to do that and every country that I have visited has been absolutely clear that they want to have a physical meeting. They want all countries to sit equally around the table to have those negotiations,” Sharma outlined. He noted that COP 26 was delayed by one year because of the pandemic but that “climate change didn’t take time off” during that period. “The last year was the hottest year on average on record across the world. Climate change has not abated,” he said.
The UK, in partnership with Italy, will host COP 26 in Glasgow, from October 31 to November 12, with more than 190 world leaders and thousands of government representatives, negotiators, businesses and other stakeholders expected to atend.