How COP28 failed the world's small islands
This was met by a sense of déjà vu among delegates of the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), an intergovernmental organisation representing the nations most vulnerable to climate change.
In her post-summit statement, Aosis lead negotiator Anne Rasmussen expressed confusion that the UAE Consensus, COP28's final agreement, was approved when representatives from small island developing states (or Sids were not in the room.
While some delegates hailed the consensus as «beginning of the end» of the fossil fuel era, Aosis countered that the document contained a «litany of loopholes» which did little to advance the key actions needed to stave off climate breakdown and deliver justice to islands and low-lying states facing the gravest consequences of the climate crisis.
Aosis member states came to COP28 to build on the momentum of their victory in the final moments of COP27 a year earlier in Egypt, when delegates agreed to establish a loss and damage fund which would pay developing nations for the unavoidable and extreme consequences of climate change. The group had fought over 30 years in climate negotiations for this fund.
Additionally, Aosis identified fundamental areas required to save Sids from impacts such as sea-level rise, desertification and climate migration.
The principal – and most contentious – is «a phase-out» of fossil fuels, the main driver of the climate crisis.
Scientific evidence is clear: rapidly eliminating coal, oil and gas is necessary to limit global warming to 1.5°C, as enshrined in the Paris agreement. Even at this limit, many small islands will face a drastic increase in coastal flooding from sea-level rise, and other effects which could render these countries uninhabitable.
«We will not
