Adaption is one of the thematic priorities for Pacific countries at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change currently underway in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
At the end of the first week of COP27, we caught up with the Pacific lead coordinator of this issue, Mr Jonah Auka, of Papua New Guinea. He provides the following update on Adaptation negotiations:
Q: How are you finding COP27?
A: COP27 started very slow. Logistical-wise, it has been very challenging with having to find accommodation and all that stuff we have to do be here but we need to be here, we need to amplify our voice for urgent actions to address climate change. Here at COP, Pacific countries are very important in this process. When you look at the impacts of climate change, it is really massive within the region. When you look at the support that has been provided it is very minimal compared to the impacts, vulnerabilities and the risk that we face. So the Pacific has an equally important voice, as other parties, and whatever we push here in terms of our agenda is equally beneficial for the universe as well.
Q: Coming into COP27, what were some of the expectations from the Pacific in terms of your thematic area?
A: The expectations from the Pacific especially around the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), under article 7.1 of the Paris Agreement, is that all parties are asked to define what the GGA is. So here, our expectations as AOSIS and PSIDS is that we want to move these discussions more into substantive outcomes in terms of having a framework that will guide us to discuss how we will define GGA.
In Glasgow last year, there was a decision on having a two-year work programme, which is called the Glasgow-Sharm el-Sheikh (GlaSS) and this is the first year. It ends next year and there needs to be a decision that comes from COP28 on what the GGA is.
We have the Global Goal on Mitigation like the 1.5degrees but here we are talking about adaptation. What it’s going to look like we don’t know, but the discussion here is that we need to have a framework that will help us assist a lot of countries define what the global goal on adaptation is.
On the national adaptation plans, our expectation here is that a lot of countries have good adaptation plans but there is no support and resources to implement the adaptation priorities that we have within our different adaptation strategies and plans and all that so we want to see support for the implementation of our adaptation.
Q: How are things going so far? And what do we need to do to get a favourable outcome for the Pacific?
A: For the Pacific, this COP is all about the implementation so what we want to see is that every decision to come out of this COP should point towards implementing adaptation, implementing mitigation on the ground rather than focusing on process and workshops and all these things.
We really need to start looking into substantial tangible outcomes that we can implement on the ground, particularly translating the outcomes we get from here into the regional level and national level in terms of adaptation and implementing those decisions.
Q: How long have you been part of this process and how have things changed over time since you started?
A: I started in 2015 in Paris and a lot has changed since. There have been some new areas, including discussions around youth, discussions around oceans, indigenous communities, human rights and gender. Those are some of the thematic areas that we are looking at because when we talk about climate change, we have to be inclusive of all these areas.
Within the UNFCCC process, the question is how do we accommodate for these discussions because different parties have their own views, we have our differences but we need to find the middle ground on how we can accommodate these new areas that have come in. Here at COP27, that is a very hard task because finding the middle ground involves endless hours of negotiations but it is what it is and we just have to work even harder to secure good outcomes for our communities and our people.
The 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP27) is being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from 6 to 18 November 2022.
It is being attended by Pacific leaders and their delegations, who are advocating for their survival. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is lead of the One CROP, working together to provide support to Pacific Islands.
