Bonn, Germany — On the eve of the first round of climate talks since last December’s Durban Climate Change Conference, Ambassador Marlene Moses, Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), released the following statement on behalf of its members:
Small Islands Call For Research On Survival Threshold
Ambassador Marlene Moses, Permanent Representative to the United Nations for the Republic of Nauru and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), a coalition of 43 low-lying island and coastal nations highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, has sent a letter to international scientific organizations requesting input into the research dialogue on keeping global warming well below 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
Workplan For Survival
Perhaps the biggest challenge hanging over the international climate negotiations is the imperative need to ramp up mitigation ambition as quickly as possible.
The “Durban Platform for Enhanced Action,” made progress in some political and technical areas, but on this key issue—bringing emissions in line with scientific recommendations—it fell short.
COP-17 Opening Plenary Durban, South Africa
2011 was another year of climate extremes, including record floods in Central and South America and Southeast Asia, drought induced famine in Africa, and severe water shortages throughout the Pacific region. I would respectfully ask that we reflect on those who have suffered enormous hardship and lost loved ones, and remember that the decisions we make here have consequences for the lives of the people we serve at home.
Opening Plenary CMP-7 Durban, South Africa
We associate this statement with those delivered by Argentina on behalf of the G77 and China, Gambia on behalf of the Group of Least Developed Countries and the Democratic Republic of Congo on behalf of the African Group, and we join with all others in mourning the sad passing of our dear friend and colleague, Mama Konaté, a great warrior of this process and soul mate in the fight against climate change.
AWG-KP Opening Plenary Durban, South Afirca
After 20 years of hard work and countless negotiating sessions, the Kyoto Protocol and its machinery has become the well-respected engine room of the international climate change regime’s mitigation efforts.
For this reason, the promise of a second, more ambitious, commitment period carries with it the hopes of vulnerable countries around the globe, who wish to see Annex I Parties to the Kyoto Protocol demonstrate leadership at this critical time in a credible way.
