THE Secretaries-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Dr Carla Barnett; and the Pacific Island Forum (PIF), Mr Henry Puna, met on the sidelines of the conference in Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday, to find areas of cooperation on climate financing.
Global leaders, the private sector and civil society are currently engaged in talks on climate financing at the 26th meeting of the Congress of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Scotland.
A statement from the CARICOM Secretariat said financing for adaptation to climate change was a major focus of discussions between the Secretaries-General of CARICOM and the PIF in Glasgow.
The two heads agreed on the urgency for the developed countries to fulfil their pledge of providing US$100 billion a year to help developing countries, including Small Island and low-lying coastal Developing States (SIDS), combat the challenge of climate change.
Dr Barnett stressed the importance of limiting global warming to a minimum of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, the release said. The CARICOM SG reportedly expressed concern that there were early warning signs of a limited commitment from major climate change contributors to shift the planet from its future of increasing global temperature over 2 degrees by the end of the century.
Mr Puna, for his part, identified sea-level rise as a potent threat to the security and wellbeing of the Pacific Islands, the release continued, while adding that the PIF SG cited a number of examples, in recent years, where entire islands were already submerged or rendered uninhabitable due to rising sea levels.
The two Secretaries-General focused attention on financing for climate resilience and mitigation initiatives, specifically the challenges of accessing climate financing from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as a means of funding adaptation.
Both CARICOM and the PIF, in meetings with the GCF, have called for the Fund to establish a presence in their regions, the CARICOM Secretariat stated.
The Secretaries-General also lamented the lack of access to favourable financing options due to graduation of their Member States to Middle-Income status.
Dr Barnett reportedly plugged CARICOM’s advocacy of a multi-dimensional vulnerability index which would change the major requirement for accessing concessional development financing from Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This index, the statement continued, would take into account the acute vulnerability of SIDS to natural disasters and global economic shocks.
Mr Puna believes the COVID-19 Pandemic increased understanding of how major development partners in the global north respond to the vulnerabilities of SIDS and fragilities of their economic sectors, particularly tourism.
The two Secretaries-General expressed concern at the direction of the post-Cotonou relations with the European Union (EU) which appear to be favouring bilateral arrangements as opposed to regional programmes, the CARICOM Secretariat noted.
The two high-level public servants agreed to continue engagement on matters that concern both their blocs.
