Vulnerable island states 'angry and suffering', but will not give up at Cop29

Cop process gives voice to nations that otherwise might not have one, summit hears

Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States, at the Cop29 climate change summit in Baku. Photo: Aosis

Island states are angry and suffering over climate change, Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States, said on Friday as he ruled out the prospect of any "backslide" at Cop29.

It came as the summit, held in Azerbaijan's capital Baku, was processing a call that future UN climate talked needed an overhaul. “We are angry,” Mr Schuster, who is also Samoa's Environment Minister, told The National.

“We are here because we are angry. We're suffering … economically, culturally. Progress is slow but that doesn't stop us from trying to find a way forward.”

The call for a revamp of summits came in a letter to the UN from a group that included former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon, former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and prominent climate scientist Johan Rockstrom. It acknowledged the achievements of previous talks, but called for changes such as improving the selection process, turning Cops into smaller meetings and improving accountability.

Fears that Argentina could withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change process and that the US, under Donald Trump, could do the same were also hanging over the summit.

'Bottom line'

Mr Schuster said the discussion about who would withdraw or not simply emphasised the importance of multilateralism. “We need as many countries that can contribute to resolve the situation," he said. "We need as many hands as we can get for us to be able to adapt.

“We are not doing any emission damage but we're at the front line. We don't want a backslide and that's the bottom line for us.”

Evans Njewa, chairman of the Least Developed Countries group, told The National that pulling out of negotiations was not the answer. “The United Nations wants to combat climate change – let no one withdraw from the process. We should move together to address climate action.”

The comments came after a joint briefing at Cop29 by the two groups. The island alliance represents 39 states, while the LDC consists of 45 countries with a collective population of more than a billion. Among them are some of the countries most vulnerable to climate change.

The briefing heard that if the Cop process is diminished and decisions shift to other forums, such as the G20, then the voices of smaller nations could be obscured. “We're not a part of those discussions,” said Michai Robertson, a negotiator for the alliance, about meetings such as the G20 when asked about the call to overhaul the summits. “So it is extremely important for forums like the UNFCCC to continue to exist.”

Watch: Climate action fund head calls for more pledges at Cop29

Work to do

Cop29, meanwhile, has reached about the halfway stage as talks over finance – the main objective of the summit – continue. Countries remain far apart.

The alliance has called for more than a trillion dollars to help the world’s most vulnerable nations stave off the worst effects of climate change, from rising sea levels to extreme heat. Small island states contribute about 1 per cent of global warming emissions, yet feel the effects acutely.

A report from the World Bank released on Thursday outlined the scale of the challenge stating that adapting to a sea level rise of up to 0.5 metres could cost three Pacific atoll nations $10 billion – which equals about 20 years of gross domestic product.

The report said residents in Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands live at an elevation of no more than three metres. What is more, a third of the population of Kiribati and Tuvalu could enter extreme poverty because of crises such as floods, while health systems could face pressure from illness related to surging heat.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also told the conference this week that island states had every right to be angry about the situation, a call Mr Schuster was responding to.

“I am too,” said Mr Guterres. “You are on the sharp end of a colossal injustice, an injustice that sees the very future of your islands threatened by rising seas.

"Your people pounded by record hurricanes, your economies torn apart. And development gains left in tatters. This is an injustice perpetrated by the few. The G20 account for around 80 per cent of global emissions. And it is an injustice that must end.”

Cop29 - in pictures