PACIFIC ISLANDS CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE

Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 3-7 April 2000

OVERVIEW ADDRES BY H.E. AMBASSADOR TUILOMA NERONI SLADE
Permanent Representative of Samoa to the United Nations
Chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)

LINKING SCIENCE AND CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY

Mr Chairman,

It is always a treat to be in the Cook Islands, and a special privilege, in the company of so many good friends and distinguished persons assembled, to participate in this important conference. It is a particular honour for me, at this stage, to offer some ‘overview’ thoughts on the subject of our conference, and to be able to do so from the perspective of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

Science for sustainable development

First, may I say that the focus on the role of science is most timely. We would see science as providing an essential component in the search for feasible pathways towards the management of the environment and towards sustainable development. The provision of information for the better formulation and selection of environment and development policies in the decision-making process is an obvious, and effective, way. To this end, it will be essential to:

* enhance scientific understanding;
* improve long-term scientific assessments;
* strengthen scientific capacities in all countries, especially developing countries and, in the context of our conference, small island States in particular; and
* ensure that the sciences are responsive to emerging needs.

A first step towards improving the scientific basis for essential and long-term strategies is a better understanding of land, oceans, atmosphere and their interlocking water, nutrient and biogeochemical cycles and energy flows which all form part of the global system. None of these issues can be treated in isolation. This is essential if a more accurate estimate is to be provided of the carrying capacity of the planet as a whole and of its resilience under the many stresses placed upon it by human activities. Science can provide this understanding through increased research into the underlying ecological processes and through the application of modern, effective and efficient tools, many of which are now available.

Equally, science should continue to play an increasing role in improvements in the efficiency of resource utilisation, especially in renewables and in less intensive utilisation of energy in industry and transportation.

There are, of course, clear linkages between science and good policy. Scientific assessments of current conditions and future prospects for the Earth system must be used in the decision-making process and in the interactive processes that exist between the sciences and policy-making. And it is almost elementary to say that an increase in the scientific capacity and capability will also be required, particularly in developing countries and among small island States in particular. Of crucial importance is the need for scientists in developing countries to participate fully in international scientific activities and research programmes touching on vital issues such as climate change.

Throughout the climate change negotiations, the AOSIS countries have insisted that the principles that must inform the development of the global regime to control climate change and the responses to its consequences must be science-driven. But, equally, we have maintained that the precautionary approach provides a sensible and essential basis for policies relating to complex systems that are not yet fully understood and whose consequences of disturbances cannot yet be predicted.

Mr Chairman,

Those engaged in the sustainable development debates will be familiar with these broad AOSIS viewpoints. They will also, no doubt, recognise that what I have said thus far of the role of science reflects in large measure what was understood and widely acknowledged in both Agenda 21, as well as in the Barbados Programme of Action for the sustainable development of small island States.

The real point though, as we seek in this conference to determine a framework for future action, is to suggest that there is already established knowledge and much already identified in regional and international arrangements that we should build on. Important conclusions were arrived at, for instance, in the meeting in Apia in 1996 on Science and Impacts of Climate Change in the Pacific, and in the Third Climate Change meeting in New Caledonia. What was done to put into effect the recommendations of such meetings should inform our deliberations. We should not ignore foundational work already undertaken. Rather, we should here be concerned with further developing and enhancing programmes and understandings already reached, paying particular attention to their full and effective implementation.

With this in the background, let me turn more specifically to some aspects of climate change.

United Nations special session on small island States

The latest international statement on this issue, with respect to small island developing States (SIDS) was the outcome of the 22nd UN General Assembly special session held in New York last September. The well-established fact that SIDS are among the most at risk from the adverse effects of climate change was acknowledged again. It was accepted that the capacities and means to adapt to this phenomenon are an absolute necessity for SIDS. Furthermore, the committed support of the international community was recognised as a critical complement to the SIDS’s own efforts in any response and long-term planning. International support was seen as particularly required for identifying adaptation options and linking efforts to reduce vulnerability with the best available information.

In the context of actions to address these issues, it was agreed that the international community and SIDS should pursue specific objectives and activities for the improvement of SIDS capacity to respond and adapt to climate change, and to make the necessary linkages to other international activities, such as the study of climate variability and climate prediction.

The General Assembly special session also identified other priority areas closely related to climate change and as critical to the sustainable development of SIDS, including:

* freshwater resources;
* coastal and marine resources;
* environmentally sound renewable energy resources;
* transfer of environmentally sound technology;
* vulnerability index on socio-economic and environmental parameters;
* information systems and technology; and
* natural and environmental disasters and climate variability, including the El Nino phenomenon.

Mr Chairman, I should mention that in his report to the General Assembly last year on the Work of the Organistion, the United Nations Secretary General predicted that in the 21st century, alongside war and conflict, natural disasters will be the greatest challenge for humankind. What we continue to experience in our Pacific region, in the Caribbean again last year, and in recent weeks most dramatically in Mozambique seems clear manifestation of events that could be expected.

Capacity-building was seen as critical to the long-term sustainable development of small island developing States, in terms of the need, as well as the emphasis and support required from both national Governments and external sources. The strengthening of regional technical training and scientific research centres, and scientific research, including the improvement of data and data collection was highlighted.

I should also tell you Mr Chairman that in successive reports to the Commission on Sustainable Development pertaining to small island States, agencies of the United Nations system have consistently featured training and the improvement of capacity as requiring the fullest and most urgent attention.

Environment outlooks for SIDS

The outcomes of the General Assembly special session took account of the latest information available from the UN system, including the Environment Outlooks for the Caribbean, Western Indian Ocean and South Pacific prepared by UNEP.

A common thread runs through the regional Environment Outlooks, namely, the ecological fragility of islands in all regions, and their high vulnerability to natural disasters and the effects of climate change and sea-level rise. Climate change was seen as an urgent problem and one on which close policy co-ordination will be needed, both in all regions and with the wider international community.

But other closely related problems were highlighted. All regions, for example, are expected to face steady, and sometimes serious decline in environmental quality. The driving forces behind this deterioration include increasing populations and urbanisation and their cumulative impacts on resource use, depletion and disposal. Issues of poverty and global climate change also featured as influential driving forces.

What is being done about the problem?

What then is being done about climate change? We look forward to hearing in detail what is being done in the Pacific. In the past ten years, the countries of AOSIS have done what they can to be as fully and as actively engaged in the international discussions and machinery for the development of the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol.

AOSIS is committed to a number of essential principles and objectives. These have provided the foundation of AOSIS participation in the climate change regime, and have been reflected in our positions and formal submissions over a decade of negotiations. They include:

* the principle of preventive action;
* the precautionary principle;
* the polluter pays principle, and State responsibility in the matter;
* duty of all countries to cooperate;
* equity; and
* the principle of common but differentiated responsibility.

The taking of early action is a fundamental element of AOSIS submissions, and forms the basis for the demands for international efforts to focus on the mitigation of climate change. In the context of the scientific uncertainties concerning climate change, the application of a preventive approach is intimately linked with the precautionary principle.

From these principles, AOSIS has developed a number of core medium and longer-term objectives that have guided our own approach to the implementation of the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. These include:

* the review of adequacy and strengthening of commitments;
* reducing scientific and methodological uncertainties associated with the Protocol’s commitments and the Kyoto mechanisms;
* commitment to binding energy conservation and efficiency requirements and the development of renewable energy sources;
* development of strong monitoring, verification and compliance regimes; and
* development of mechanisms for meeting the costs of adaptation.

A major aim of AOSIS is to press for the ongoing review of the adequacy of existing commitments and to propose ways to strengthen commitments. Measured against the science, we think the targets set under the Kyoto Protocol are demonstrably inadequate.

AOSIS has continued to express its concerns about the many scientific and methodological uncertainties surrounding the Protocol’s commitments and mechanisms.

The eventual replacement of polluting energy systems with renewable sources is a long-term strategy for AOSIS. We think current developments should be intensified.

We are especially concerned to ensure that monitoring, verification and compliance arrangements are in place at both the national and international level for all Parties wishing to participate in the climate change regime. We have maintained from the beginning that there needs to be a sound compliance regime with binding consequences to ensure the effectiveness of legally binding commitments. We advocate various forms of "conditionality", such as requiring participation in the Protocol’s implementation mechanisms to be conditional on the proof of sound domestic regulatory regimes. We think it is essential to ensure the development of a strong and effective compliance system, especially with the extra-territorial operation of national obligations through emissions trading at the global level and the involvement of corporate entities in the private sector.

AOSIS was instrumental in the inclusion of adaptation requirements in the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. We are doing what we can, at the climate change negotiations to advance global consensus, and to initiate practical approaches through the Global Environment Facility (GEF). As time goes on, and with the impacts of climate change already alarmingly evident, we believe adaptation has become an essential area for policy concentration.

It is important to bear in mind that action is now necessary, especially for countries like Kiribati, Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, and for the Maldives and The Bahamas in other SIDS regions, for the protection and preservation of fresh water reserves and other life-support systems – whether or not there is international consensus on all outstanding issues, and whether or not the Kyoto Protocol enters into force.

Regional initiatives

The very significant scientific studies and high quality research being undertaken in the Pacific are recognised internationally – as, indeed, are similar endeavours in other island States regions. It would be very profitable for such work to be effectively co-ordinated and shared among all island communities, and for the results to be injected into the major global climate change assessments and negotiation process. We believe that SIDS/Net, the small island States dedicated networking system developed by the UNDP in conjunction with AOSIS, would be an ideal vehicle for the publication and dissemination of this line of information.

Policy issues

Effective policy implementation that links global environmental issues and sustainable development has four requirements:

* scientific understanding of the nature of the links among environmental issues and their relationship to meeting human needs, to facilitate the balancing of competing needs and the identification of strategies that capture as many benefits as possible;
* identification of innovative combinations of policies that are effective and cost-efficient and that encourage the public and private sectors to work together;
* political will and public commitment (from Governments and all levels of society) to seriously address global environmental issues, including setting realistic goals and identifying creative paths for achieving them; and
* improved co-ordination among the national, regional and international institutions charged with developing and encouraging adoption of policies and measures to meet human needs, without undermining the environmental foundation for development.

Mr Chairman,

We would wish to share our detailed thoughts in respect of all these matters in the course of the week. But allow me to say that the policy links and framework to be determined in Rarotonga would, in the broader context, be a most worthy contribution by the Pacific to the global understanding and treatment of the climate change issue; and, in the spirit of the Barbados Programme of Action, would be an offering of inestimable value for all AOSIS countries in other regions.

Thank you.