‘Time To Implement Is Now’

Every day there is a delay in climate action, the cost of ad­aptation becomes bigger.

As a result, the loss and damage that happens from adaptation hav­ing failed occurs.

This was the clear stance made by Fiji’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dr Satyendra Prasad who is representing Fijian Prime Minister and Pacific Islands Forum Chair, Voreqe Bainimarama to COP27, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

Mr Prasad during said we were in an overtime period and all countries small and big, rich and poor need to wake up to understand what was at stake for COP27 to succeed.

“The window that we have is very short. It is so urgent and COP27 is so defining.”

1.5-DEGREE COMMITMENT

Mr Prasad said for Fiji and the Pa­cific, COP27 was where the Pacific needed to keep on with much deter­mination, raise its voices to secure our fundamentally 1.5.

“At COP26 there was a Glasgow package that had been created,” he said.

“Fiji’s Prime Minister in his role of course as chair of the Pacific Is­land Forum had fought very hard to raise the ambition of the Glasgow package.

“Here in Egypt we are testing how far the Glasgow package has come. The first big negotiation or political discussion item is whether we are still within 1.5 which we had more or less agree to in Glasgow.

“Today if all the commitments are counted we are 1.7, which is .2 of what the requirements of more than what was promised.”

He added that part two was the broad agreement to deliver on the $100 billion package of climate fi­nance.

“That’s still not on the table and we are calling on richer countries to still not flaws for funds on cli­mate action.”

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