缅北禁地

His Excellency Mark Brown, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands and Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum,

Excellencies,
Distinguished Colleagues,

I have the honour of welcoming you to this side event on loss and damage in Small Island Developing States. Allow me, at the outset, to pay tribute to Dr. Saleemul Huq, a climate champion, who left us about a month back. Dr. Huq’s lifelong contribution to global efforts to addressing climate change and sustainable development have contributed to us being where we are today, most importantly on the breakthrough made on loss and damage last year. As someone who got her first lessons on loss and damage from him, I remember him with deep respect and fondness for his unwavering commitment and efforts in support of global climate action, and climate justice for the developing nations.

Excellencies,
Today, we look back on another record-breaking year of climate related disasters, where wildfires, floods, and droughts upended lives and livelihoods around the world. July 2023 marked the first full month to exceed the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement. Higher ocean temperatures accounted for half the sea-level rise seen over the past fifty years, according to the IPCC. In fact, more than 40 percent of the world’s oceans experienced a marine heat wave this summer. Violent storms once again threatened island and coastal communities. All around us, losses and damages mount. The world’s most vulnerable nations – in particular, the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) -- are among the nations who have contributed the least to the climate crisis, yet they bear the brunt of the impacts. Over the past fifty years, small island developing States lost $153 billion due to weather, climate, and water related hazards.? Despite this, climate finance for SIDS remains very low. In 2019, only 2 percent of climate financing went to island nations. While the playing field is far from level, important progress is being made. The synthesis report of the global stock take under the Paris Agreement reports that the Agreement has driven near-universal climate action by setting goals towards a more urgent response. The operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund on the first day of COP28 has set much needed momentum for addressing loss and damage in the most vulnerable nations. The pledges from the United Arab Emirates, Germany, the UK, Japan, the United States and others is a critical start. But much more will need to be mobilized in the days and months ahead. If properly financed and equitably disbursed, the Fund will help to make up for the climate injustice that frontline communities and climate-vulnerable nations have been dealing with for years.

Excellencies,

As we look forward to the L&D Fund being fully operational, allow me to offer a few recommendations for how it may meet the needs of the most vulnerable nations:

First, simplified access criteria will help the Fund operate efficiently, fairly and at the speed and scale needed for vulnerable nations. Alignment with new and existing funding arrangements will also streamline access.
Second, it is important to strengthen institutional capacities of vulnerable nations, including their ability to implement and monitor progress of projects being financed under the Fund. We should also enable country-owned approaches to projects involving relevant institutions and stakeholders, including non-state actors.

Third, Support for building climate information systems in vulnerable nations will be critical in order to improve the collection and analysis of climate data.

Excellencies,

I would like to acknowledge the voices of islanders -- from youth activists to women’s groups, to climate negotiators, heads of state and government -- who have been strong advocates for rapid climate action. As my Office looks ahead to the 4th 缅北禁地Conference on Small Island Developing States in May next year, we will look for ways to amplify these voices.

Further, as a member of the Advisory Panel to the Secretary-General's Early Warning For All initiative, I will continue to work with my 缅北禁地counterparts to ensure the most vulnerable nations remain a priority. And, I will continue to support AOSIS to advance the dialogue on loss and damage as we continue preparations for next year’s Conference. Together with AOSIS, Antigua and Barbuda, and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, we will discuss how the next programme of action for SIDS can be informed by the latest climate science at a dedicated side event tomorrow here in the AOSIS pavilion at 11AM.

I will rest it here for now. I wish you all a fruitful COP28.

I thank you.