‘To ignore climate change is to gamble with our future,’ warns PM Browne at SIDS Conference

Antigua and Barbuda: The 4th international conference on Small Island Developing States is taking place from May 27 to 30, 2024 in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda. The conference aims to assess the ability of SIDS to achieve sustainable development and is therefore being held under the theme of “Charting the course toward resilient prosperity.”

Prime Minister Gaston Browne, during the opening ceremony, stated that the world leaders are gathered not merely to reiterate their challenges but to demand and enact solutions.

He asked the Global North in particular to honour its commitments including the pivotal pledge of $100 billion in climate financing to assist with adaptation and mitigation and the effective capitalization and operationalization of the loss and damage fund.

He called these investments ‘imperative’ in humanity, Justice and Equitable future of humans. PM Browne noted that this year has been the hottest in history in practically every corner of the globe facing severe impacts in the ecosystems and underscoring the urgency of the predicament.

“To ignore this is to gamble with our collective future,” noted the Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

He further addressed the companies that were highly contributing to creating environmental challenges and added, “It high time to end fossil fuel subsidies and for these companies to be held accountable to reduce emissions and to accelerate the transition to renewable energy resources to protect lives and livelihoods shouldn’t a global carbon tax be levied on these oil companies that are consistently enjoying supernormal profits to provide much-needed climate financing.”

While calling upon all the leaders of the small island states, PM Browne emphasized that it is imperative that “we act now, not tomorrow but today with conviction and with unyielding resolve.”

He added that the major contributors to climate change have failed to meet their obligations to mitigate its effects, causing significant harm to SIDS and the planet in general. “That is why, together with the then prime minister of Tuvalu, I established the Commission of Small Island States and Climate Change and International Law COSIS at COP 26 in 2021 to seek climate Justice and to advocate for rights.”

PM Gaston Browne further mentioned that, while acting on behalf of SIDS, COSIS successfully obtained a historic and unanimous advisory opinion from ITLAS on May 21, 2024. This rule affirmed the legal duty of all Nations to immediately mitigate greenhouse gas emissions to keep temperature rise within 1.5° C above pre-industrial levels for the protection and preservation of the marine environment.

He urged the major polluters to recognize and respect this s historic ruling as an imperative to the Fulfillment of the Global legal obligations, particularly to SIDS, and accordingly to act in the best interests of the planet and all humanity.