Smaller nations at risk of the effects of climate change have sounded the alarm about the threat posed to their existence, seeking a bigger voice on climate diplomacy and issues that may decide their fate.
Thirty-two island states across the world – from Saint Lucia to Vanuatu, Japan, and the UK – signed the joint declaration and took part in the two-day meeting of the Archipelagic and Island States Forum, which brings together nations at risk of common climate challenges.
The forum “agreed to uphold the principles of solidarity, equality and inclusiveness as a common basis for cooperation”, Indonesia’s president Joko Widodo told a press conference on the resort island of Bali.
Members agreed that “developing countries and the archipelagic states have the same rights to be developed, have the same rights to carry out development”, he said.
The declaration document, seen by AFP, called for all members to prioritise “climate change mitigation, adaptation, and disaster management” as well as the protection of the marine environment.
It also called for “good maritime governance” and “creation of sustainable economic development” of the blue economy, a term for activity on the world’s oceans, seas, and coastlines.
Indonesia’s foreign minister Retno Marsudi said leaders had tasked ministers to create a roadmap towards formalising the 51-member forum – which was created in 2018 – as an official charter-based bloc.
Alongside tiny Pacific nations like Micronesia and the Marshall Islands were bigger developed nations including Japan, New Zealand, Ireland, and the UK, who are all threatened by climate change.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says sea levels rose by 15 to 25cm between 1900 and 2018.
A 2 °Celsius warming compared to the pre-industrial era would raise the sea levels by 43cm by 2100.
Crunch UN climate talks will be held in the United Arab Emirates later this year, several months after the UN’s first official progress report on climate concluded the world is perilously off course in meeting goals for slashing carbon pollution.