SAINT LUCIA, Oct 01 (IPS) – Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are experiencing the worst impacts of climate change. When the leaders of those islands met in Antigua and Barbuda in May, they informed the world that achieving climate justice depends on comprehensive climate finance.
As they prepare for the 2024 United Nations climate change conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saint Lucia is prioritizing this issue, strengthening alliances with other SIDS, and seeking significant funding for adaptation and mitigation projects. With its latest hit Climate Change Act of 2024this island nation recognizes that securing climate finance is critical to securing its future.
“This year’s COP was called ‘Finance COP’,” Maya Sifflet, Sustainable Development and Environment Officer in Saint Lucia told IPS. “The focus is on getting the funding we need to mobilize and deliver on the climate work we’ve committed to.”
Saint Lucia, like many other SIDS, faces major challenges in adapting to the impacts of climate change. Rising sea levels, strong storms and changing weather patterns are already threatening its economy and infrastructure. Sifflet explained that Saint Lucia has developed a wide range of knowledge National Change Program (NAP), which integrates climate action into national development strategies. However, without adequate funding, even the most well-designed programs are vulnerable to collapse.
“Every year, countries submit their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which describe the climate action they are taking. We are encouraged to make them more ambitious, to say what climate action we are taking. Our NDCs now not only limit our efforts, but also our adaptation efforts and situations,” said Sifflet.
Finance is important to those plans.
“We need to ensure that our sectors are resilient—agriculture, tourism, fisheries. Each sector was encouraged to assess its risks, assess its weaknesses and assess what steps can be taken to build resilience. So we have developed several adaptation strategies and action plans. “
Saint Lucia has also developed a set of bankable project concepts, aimed at making the nation “financially ready” when world capital becomes available. These programs are part of a broader effort to position the country for climate finance, either through bilateral agreements or international mechanisms.
Sifflet emphasized that collective action by umbrella groups such as the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is essential to Saint Lucia’s success at COP29. “We are negotiating in groups. We have a lot of energy,” he said. “With AOSIS, we exchange information, share information, and amplify each other’s voices in conversations. It’s a big platform, it’s competitive and you need that collective presence to be strong.”
One of the key areas that Saint Lucia and AOSIS members will focus on during COP29 is the implementation of the Loss and Injury Fund, which was a successful agreement during COP27. This fund is designed to provide financial assistance to countries at risk of loss and damage caused by climate change impacts that cannot be mitigated or adapted to.
“The operation of the Loss and Damage Fund would be a great success at COP29,” Sifflet noted. “It is something that SIDS has been lobbying for for many years. This fund means that the world community is ready to put its money where its mouth is.”
Saint Lucia, in anticipation of the legalization of the fund, has already done a Needs Based Assessment and Loss and Damage to ensure that it is ready to receive funding when it becomes available.
“As vulnerable countries, we bear the brunt of climate change, often forced to hit the reset button after every extreme weather event,” added Sifflet. “And it’s not just about economic loss—our cultural assets, intangibles, are at risk. There’s a lot at stake for us as small islands,” he told IPS.
Sifflet concluded that although Saint Lucia’s preparations for COP29 have been extensive, the true measure of success will be securing the funding and global commitment needed to ensure the survival and prosperity of small islands in the face of climate change.
This week, the COP29 Presidency presented a set of plans to promote global climate action. In a letter to all parties, President-elect Mukhtar Babayev said it includes the Baku Initiative on Climate Finance, Investment and Trade, noting that “climate finance, as a critical driver of climate action, is the basis of the Presidency’s vision for COP29.”
This year’s COP is expected to be a forum for discussion on global climate change financing. Small island developing states will look to major economies and large emitters of greenhouse gases to provide the financial assistance needed to address and prevent a problem they did little to cause. The figures for Saint Lucia, and other SIDS, are high.
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© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
