Small Islands Need NDCs and Finance Focus at Copenhagen Ministerial

Countries which are hardest hit by the climate crisis are calling for the pivotal Copenhagen Ministerial to transform climate pledges into active implementation.

New York, 20th March 2024

The most significant political global gathering on climate change since COP28 is just a day away, with countries coming together at the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial from 21st March. The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) is keen to see a strong commitment from the incoming COP29 Presidency, Azerbaijan, to ensure outcomes that will deliver the critical support small island developing states (SIDS) need to sustain lives and livelihoods amidst worsening climate change impacts.

“While we fight for our people in negotiating rooms year after year, the incremental progress made on addressing the climate crisis falls far behind the actual losses endured by the women, men, and children of our vulnerable small island developing states,” said Minister Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Samoa, and AOSIS Chair. “This is a critical year, as we must peak global emissions before 2025 to avoid the worst scenarios of increased storms, drought, coastal erosion, sea level rise, and the other devastating impacts of climate change on our homes.”

“At the Copenhagen Climate Ministerial, we must see a laser focus on implementing the COP28 Energy Package, and advancing new, significantly more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which will lock us on a firm track to maintaining the 1.5°C goal and place us on a pathway to net-zero by 2050. We urge all countries to demonstrate their diligence and good faith by submitting updates to their 2030 targets as well as NDCs with 2035 targets well before the February 2025 deadline.

“Importantly, setting a robust New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (‘NCQG’) is key. Implementation of effective climate action is impossible without it. We cannot have a repeat of the delayed promises of the 100 billion goal – The urgent delivery of the NCQG to SIDS and other developing countries is a consequential catalyst for achieving the Paris Agreement’s goals. The era of implementation is upon us and we cannot miss this precious window to write a better chapter for our world.”