Opening Remarks at the Placencia Ambition Forum

Excellencies, 
Colleagues, 
Ladies and gentlemen,

A warm welcome to you all!

It is a privilege to add my voice in my capacity as High Representative to this important gathering calling for continued focus on and raising ambition for climate action.

I applaud the extraordinary efforts of AOSIS to continue raising ambition through this important Forum.

It is a difficult time right now for everybody but especially for SIDS.

COVID-19 is also affecting climate change. With less human activity, with humans retreating well we have a temporary  slowing  in carbon emissions. Maps of especially urban areas and their peripheries show it .

But just as urban densities will not go away, this is temporary.

It is also tragic as this  comes on the back of an economic slowdown due to human distress. A slowdown whose cost, economic, social and political remain unknown at this stage.

So, let us be clear,  this does not represent the kind of or scale of  changes needed.

The last time we witnessed slowing emissions was during the Global Financial Crisis a decade ago.

However, this was temporary and we missed the moment to fundamentally question a reconciliation between growth imperatives and sustainability.

Any crisis, as strangely as it may sound, also bears opportunity. So, in 2020 let us not yet again miss opportunity. Let us not miss once more the chance to rebuild by investing in decarbonizing the global economy.

The manifold climate risks of the SIDS have been known for a long time. The SIDS have alerted to them since the early 90s. A call for action was made in 1994 at the First Global Conference on the sustainable development of the Small Islands  States, and climate change and sea level rise were subsequently incorporated into the Barbados Plan of Action(BPoA).  We have come a long way to where we are now.

Even with substantial international support, which is urgently needed and needed NOW, the global pandemic EVERYBODY is exposed to is likely to further reduce the resilience of the already highly vulnerable small island communities.  This has been highlighted recently during closure of borders, social distancing with category 5 cyclone Harold in the Pacific, impacting lives, livelihoods, infrastructure, in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and my own country Tonga. 

AOSIS, its member states and Belize as the Chair have demonstrated global leadership in their commitment for climate action. Thank you all also for your  tireless efforts for COP25 in Madrid.

Despite your and other SIDS’ efforts, many, including myself, are deeply disappointed with the lack of progress made in 2019.

We cannot rest, we cannot stand still, we need concrete action on oceans, effective carbon markets and operationalizing the Warsaw Mechanisms on Loss and Damage.

We have less than a decade remaining to cut global emissions by 50%.

The further delay of these aspects of UNFCCC until COP26 in 2021 is of serious concern.

I  hope the combined knowledge, experience and collaborative spirit at this forum will bring about creative ideas for how to move forward NOW regardless of the old and the new hurdles we face. As they say “difficulties are there to be overcome”.

So,  I once again express my appreciation for the leadership shown by AOSIS and Belize as the chair in organizing this important Forum, and thank you all for your can do spirit and  participation.