Climate Vulnerable Countries must Stick Together to be Heard

Oxfam

The world’s most climate vulnerable countries must work together in international climate negotiations or the needs of the one billion people they represent risk being ignored, concluded a summit of international civil society in Dhaka this week.

The conference which included representatives from 18 of the countries that are most vulnerable to climate change including Small Island Developing States such as Samoa and Maldives, Least Developed Countries such as Nepal and Bhutan, and African nations such as Lesotho and Niger also called for urgent action by rich countries to limit average global temperature rises to no more that 1.5 degrees centigrade, reflecting that an increase in excess of that would seriously threaten their survival and development.

“Least Developed Countries, Small Island Developing States and African countries have little power individually but together make up around 100 of the 192 countries represented at the climate talks. A grouping of this size can command the attention of the US, Europe and China. Only by working together can we ensure the climate deal meets the needs of the one billion people around the world who are least responsible for the climate crisis but who are being hit first and worst by its effects,” said Ziaul Hoque Mukta, Policy and Advocacy Manager, Oxfam in Bangladesh.

“We call upon developed countries to take on binding commitments to reduce their emissions by at least 45 per cent in aggregate below 1990 levels by 2020. In addition financing must be available for Most Vulnerable Countries urgent adaptation needs and the existing barriers to accessing current funding such as multiple and complex accessing criterion must be removed,” said Professor Kwesiga, from the Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Associations (DENIVA) in Uganda, East Africa.

“All Heads of States in the countries most vulnerable to climate change must prioritise the High Level Meeting on Climate Change in New York in September 2009 – an important opportunity to ensure that the voices of the most vulnerable are heard ahead of Copenhagen,” said Kwesiga.