20 September 2019
As hurricanes in the Caribbean region create devastation and displacement, fires in the Amazon rage, and Arctic ice continues to melt at an accelerated rate, world leaders are preparing to gather at United Nations Headquarters on 23 September 2019 for the Climate Action Summit, convened by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres. The climate-induced events that have occurred over the last several months provide further evidence about what is on the line at this crucial Summit. Jamaica is committed to ensuring that the needs of developing countries are addressed within the initiatives and pledges that emerge from the Summit. Our overarching goal is to promote the increased and effective mobilization of public and private finance to support the adaptation and resilience-building efforts of developing countries.
The Secretary-General is holding the Climate Action Summit to put the world on track to meet the headline goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement: to hold the global average temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C.1 Heads of State and Government have been asked to come to the Summit with concrete action plans, not speeches. Such plans should include the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by mid-century. In 2018, global carbon emissions reached their highest levels in human history.2 It is clear from current investment trends and emission levels that significant progress must be made in an ever-shrinking span of time.
Islands Are Ready to Lead
For small island developing States (SIDS), climate change is not an abstract concept, but a force already affecting individual lives, coastal communities, ecosystems and economies. Stronger storms, rising sea levels and ocean acidification are rapidly escalating development challenges in SIDS. In the face of increasing climate impacts and slow global action, Jamaica has leveraged international platforms and engaged its partners to advocate for significantly greater financial support and technical assistance, which will be needed to help developing countries mitigate as well as adapt and build resilience to the effects of climate change.
These three topics—volume of financial resources, provision of technical assistance and access to finance—have been crucial points of discussion for the Summit’s “Climate Finance and Carbon Pricing” track, which is co-led by Jamaica, France and Qatar, with support from Canada, Germany, Denmark, the Republic of Korea, Senegal and Switzerland, as well as institutions such as the World Bank and the World Resources Institute. Jamaica continues to encourage developed countries to deliver on their commitment to mobilize $100 billion per year for climate investments in developing countries by 2020. It acknowledges the role that the private sector can play in building resilient infrastructure and is at the forefront of the call for additional technical assistance to help developing countries improve their enabling environments with a view to attracting additional flows of private investment.
The Climate Finance Challenge
The lengthy processes and burdensome requirements for accessing international climate finance have been persistent barriers for developing countries. For SIDS, applying for international climate funds often requires shifting staff from other crucial tasks. Therefore, Jamaica has deemed it a priority to advocate for streamlined and harmonized access requirements, dedicated climate finance windows and greater process efficiency. It also sees the need for greater flexibility and innovation in the types of financial instruments offered by multilateral development banks (MDBs) and development finance institutions. Jamaica hopes to see the broader use of risk mitigation instruments as a complement to increased equity participation by MDBs in public investment projects in developing countries.
Recognizing the need to develop the institutional capacity of developing countries, Jamaica, along with Canada, Denmark and other countries, is engaged in the Closing the Investment Gap (CIG) Initiative. CIG delivers technical assistance aimed at enabling developing countries to prepare bankable investment proposals for sustainable, climate-resilient infrastructure projects.
Other climate-related achievements over the past year have greatly contributed to positioning Jamaica in its current leadership role. These achievements were facilitated, in part, by the work of the country’s skilled climate change negotiators as well as the contributions of highly recognized scientists from the University of the West Indies. They include the loss and damage considerations associated with climate change impacts and communication processes for adaptation projects now featured in the Paris Agreement rule book3. Additionally, the approval of the Summary for Policymakers of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on global warming of 1.5?C4 represents a major victory for Jamaica, and SIDS more broadly.
Where do we go from here?
The Secretary-General’s Climate Action Summit represents a crucial opportunity to steer the world towards sustainable growth and development before climate damage and natural hazards worsen, especially for climate-vulnerable SIDS. Jamaica believes that the actions announced at the Summit will be instrumental in creating a new, more effective and efficient architecture for financing sustainable infrastructure, including adaptation and resilience projects.
Jamaica’s strong support for increasing public and private financial resources for adaptation and resilience, simplifying access to these resources, increasing technical assistance and improving institutional capacity will help give developing countries the confidence they need to submit and implement enhanced nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in 2020. This includes, for example, raising the standards of national targets for renewable energy, forestry management and coastal resilience. As countries strengthen their NDCs, a path towards limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels becomes a greater possibility. Limiting climate change to that level can only be achieved with appropriate and timely financing from development partners.
It has been a long road to the United Nations Climate Action Summit, but the road to ensuring a safe and stable climate for all is longer still. Jamaica will channel its people’s renowned enthusiasm and optimism as it continues to champion the interests of SIDS and other developing countries in the years ahead.
Notes
1Paris Agreement, Article 2, paragraph 1 (a).
2Corinne Le Quéré and others, Global Carbon Budget 2018, Earth System Science Data, 2018. Available at https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-10-2141-2018.
3For more information on the Paris Agreement rule book, also known as the Katowice Climate Change Package, please visit https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/paris-agreement-work-programme/katowice-climate-package.
4Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “Summary for Policymakers”, in “Global Warming of 1.5°C. IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty”, Valérie Masson-Delmotte and others, eds. (2018).
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