Pacific Leaders Raise Climate Stakes For COP26 And 1.5 Degree World

Wed 6 October, 2021— Pacific Island nations are stepping up their preparations for COP 26 in Glasgow in the next month. The Pacific ACP States have issued a joint statement (see link above) on Urgent Climate Action for a 1.5 degree World.

The high-level statement on Climate Change is aimed at world leaders attending COP26 in Glasgow a month from now and calls for action that will once and for all limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, consign coal to history, deliver the USD 100 billion climate finance goal, boost finance for adaptation, finalise the Paris rulebook and take concerted action on oceans through the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change).

“The statement has underlined our clear sentiments of an urgency for action which cannot be buried under yet more rhetoric and delays,” Forum Chair, Fiji PM Josaia V. Bainimarama said. “Pacific nations are making it clear that the Glasgow Climate negotiations must address the lost momentum of two years since Madrid. We must achieve key outcomes for the region and indeed the world.”

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) nations are a powerful negotiating bloc at the UNFCCC climate negotiations, and the Pacific ACP Leaders statement is part of a regional approach to represent the positions and priorities of Pacific states at COP 26. Leaders also endorsed a new group of Political Climate Champions to amplify Pacific priorities in the COP26 negotiations.

The met virtually on September 30 to discuss climate preparations and consider other matters. Pacific ACP Leaders will meet again in January 2022 to decide on the region’s implementation arrangements for the newly concluded OACPS (Organisation of African Caribbean and Pacific States) – European Union (EU) Agreement.

“I look forward to joining ACP Leaders in Samoa in 2022 to formally sign the new agreement which will be called the Samoa Agreement. It represents a multi-billion-dollar development, trade and strategic partnership between ACP members and the EU for the next 20 years,” the Forum Chair noted.

The Samoa Agreement will replace the current Cotonou Agreement which has grown trade, development, and multilateral ties between the European Union and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific nations of the world.

The Pacific ACP Leaders meeting, held virtually, is part of the 51st Pacific Island Forum Leaders Meeting that commenced on 6 August 2021 with the Leaders Opening Retreat –and will culminate with a planned face to face meeting in Fiji in early 2022. –ENDS

STATEMENT OF THE PACIFIC ACP LEADERS TO COP26 FOR A 1.5-DEGREE WORLD

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