RMI Supports Copenhagen Accord on Climate Change But Demands A Legal Treaty
RMI has conveyed its political support for the Copenhagen Accord, the rushed and controversial political agreement offered at last December’s global climate negotiations in Denmark.
But RMI, which faces the risk of losing its statehood to rising seas, also linked its support to a demand for progress this year towards the adoption of a legally-binding treaty of sufficient ambition to ensure the survival of the most vulnerable nations.
The Accord was brokered on the last night of the climate negotiations with a group of 28 global leaders, including the Prime Minister of Grenada, Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, and the President of the Maldives, a low-lying atoll nation. The Accord tried to break through the difficult deadlock on dividing responsibility for harmful emissions between rich nations, like the US, and large growing developing countries like India and PRC-China. However, many observers say the Copenhagen Accord lacks specifics.
Majuro faced considerable damage by unusually high waves in late 2008, and UN experts say RMI risks future exposure to more intense storms, erosion and threats to water supplies.
“We all know the facts, we see the impacts already with our own eyes – erosion is already occurring and our narrow atolls have no high ground. We have the most to lose from a deadlock – but we’ll also suffer if there’s a lowest common denominator agreement” said Foreign Minister John Silk. “The Copenhagen Accord is a step forward, but all nations must commit to the strongest possible actions – and adopt a legal treaty – if we are to ensure our survival.”
RMI, along with the other low-lying island nations of Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Maldives, was identified last May by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees as being at risk of losing its sovereign status, in the absence of urgent and ambitious global action to cut emissions.
“Distant promises are no longer enough; my people, and the world, deserve more,” President Zedkaia told other world leaders at the Copenhagen meeting in December. “All I ask of you in this room is that you allow this generation of Marshallese, and generations to come, to survive as a people inhabiting a country that is but a collection of tiny specks of corals in the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. They are the lands of my ancestors. Allow these tiny specks to sink beneath the waves, and you will have destroyed an entire nation, a culture, a people. I will never be a silent witness to such an international crime.”
The Copenhagen Accord set a January 31st timeline for individual nations to show political support, and also for the largest nations to come forward with their own emissions cuts. Some of the largest emitters – including the the US, India, the European Union and PRC-China – have already indicated their support, along with some vulnerable nations – joining RMI so far in support of the Accord are Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Maldives, and Bangladesh. But full international backing is still unclear, and many observers doubt that national commitments will be meet the Accord’s goal to limit warming to below 2 degrees Celsius.
The Accord also sets a 2016 review, to lower the limit of global warming to 1.5 degrees – a key goal for RMI and more than 100 other island nations and Least Developed countries.
In associating with the Copenhagen Accord, RMI also informed the UN of its ambitious and progressive plan to boost renewable energy with international assistance, in doing so cutting its own emissions by 40% by 2020.
“If one of the smallest and most vulnerable island states can take action, the largest countries have no excuse not to follow our example” said Minister Silk. RMI's energy plan is among the most ambitious offered to date by any developing nation.
“Rich nations must lead,” said Minister Silk, “but everyone must contribute to the global effort. And only binding deals will send strong signals to global markets that low-carbon technology is in everyone’s economic interest.”
The Accord also commits industrialized countries to provide immediate and long-term finance for the poorest and most vulnerable nations to help reduce vulnerability to climate impacts.
“We are starting preparations to connect these finances with our adaptation plans to protect our population from further climate impacts. We are already preparing proposals - but large nations must show a real commitment to deliver on their promises. We didn’t cause this problem and we won’t accept further delays or red tape,” said Minister-in-Assistance Ruben Zackhras. “Nations have been debating these issues for two decades – now is the time for action.”
Although RMI's government has an improved understanding of climate impacts, and strategies to reduce vulnerability, international funding to date is often absent, complex or out of reach. Hopefully, the Copenhagen Accord will spur immediate and large-scale funding (starting with $30 billion worldwide in 2010, and up to $100 billion annually by 2020). However, the specifics still need to be worked out.
“Our affiliation with the Accord shows we expect nations to mobilize quickly on an effective finance strategy. Promises of funding to vulnerable states are useless if we can't deliver results on the ground,” said Phillip Muller, RMI's Ambassador to the United Nations.
The Marshall Islands is part of the 43-member Alliance of Small Island States, a key negotiating bloc of vulnerable nations. The group's UN Ambassadors are due to meet in New York in early February to prepare its strategies for climate negotiations in 2010.
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Marshall Islands, January 29, 2010
