COP29 In Baku Made Big Step Forward, We Need To Keep Momentum Going - President Of Palau (Exclusive Interview)

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 9. COP29 in Baku made a big step forward in climate financing and we need to keep momentum going, President of the Republic of Palau Surangel Samuel Whipps Jr. said in an exclusive interview with Trend .

“First of all, congratulations to Azerbaijan for hosting COP29, which was wonderful. It created an opportunity for the world to come together. It was a finance COP, it was about raising funds, finally, to get things done. Of course, we know that what we need is much larger than $300 billion. But what we have to look at is getting the first $100 billion took a long time. And now at least we have commitments to triple to bring it to $300 billion. But the goal is $1.3 trillion. That's what needed to really ensure that we stay below 1.5 and we keep those islands that are sinking alive. We have to work together to make sure that this becomes a reality,” he said.

President Whipps pointed that the road ahead is still long and it's going to require philanthropists, developed countries, larger businesses, large emitters, multilateral development banks, all working together in ensuring that“we are able to raise our ambition and ultimately reach the $1.3 trillion goal that we had set”.

“We're very thankful that the Loss and Damage Fund was able to be fully operationalized and hopefully the financial flows will start to begin because ultimately that's what we're after. I think one of the challenges that small islands have is accessing those funds. A lot of commitments are made, but mostly they end up being used in the developed countries or they aren't reached for small islands. Understanding our vulnerabilities and understanding the unique circumstances is important for us to be able to realize that and fully participate in addressing those impacts that we all face,” said Palau's president.

On the carbon markets, President Whipps believes that the building blocks have been achieved to begin that.

“That includes the agreement by all parties to access registry systems. And once again, that's also a challenge that we have limited abilities and we have to continue to work on that to improve upon it. But I think overall, the purpose of COPs is to bring us together to continue moving forward and make financing available to help mitigate and adapt,” said President Whipps.

Baku breakthrough

“What's most important is that we made progress. I want to congratulate the COP29 presidency for being able to deliver a finance COP and providing finance. We need to continue to focus on climate finance. I think the $300 billion is a big step, and we need to recognize that more is needed. We need to continue to be ambitious, and to work together with all parties to continue to advance in these areas,” he said.

Palau's president recalled how the world worked together to address COVID-19.

“We shut down the world. We spent billions of dollars with vaccines. That's the commitment we need to combat climate change. We're hoping that this is the beginning. Like a snowball, it needs momentum. We've started the snowball on top of the mountain. Now it just needs to gain momentum and get bigger and bigger and really achieve the results that we're all hoping for,” noted President Whipps.

Making countries accountable for implementation of climate commitments

“We need to use all the UN regimes to see the high outcome of what we are trying to do. We have the UNFCCC process, but it shouldn't just stop there. It should be all avenues within the UN. We need to be looking at international legal instruments to hold countries accountable. The countries in the Pacific have joined together on what we call Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS) to get a decision from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hold emitters accountable. We have to look at all avenues to raise accountability and to really drive the desired outcomes that we all need,” said Palau's president.

He pointed out that it is not just about small islands.

“While I was in Baku, I understood that water levels of the Caspian Sea are declining because of climate change. So, this is not just a small island problem, it's all of our problem. And what we want to do is use all the different regimes to ensure that we're all on the same track,” said President Whipps.

Strengthening international partnership in combating climate crisis

“Most importantly, we have a commitment of $300 billion. Now the question is, how does that actually get out to small islands? How does it begin to implement meaningful projects that really make a difference in reaching our goals? When it comes to the Pacific, first of all, we have what we call the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent. We're hoping that this funding goes to meet the strategy that we've laid out. Part of that Blue Pacific Continent Strategy, one of the areas that we have begun and we launched at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was what we call the Unlocking Blue Pacific Prosperity Plan. That is driven on the fact that we believe that healthy oceans mean healthy planet.

To do that, we have to do a combination of things. That means 100% management of our ocean resources, have designated areas that we fully protect to ensure that they stay healthy, resilient, because if they're healthy, they regulate the climate. It's important for the whole world,” he said.

But at the same time, as President Whipps noted, it is also important to build sustainable uses of that ocean.

“We did fit for purpose financing to ensure that protecting our biodiversity, optimizing the use of those resources, adding value to the system can really encourage sustainable use. And that, of course, leads to healthy oceans, which are critical to us. The other plan is also the regional programmatic approach for climate action. That's really making sure that we have financing out there to do these other activities. And the last one is the Pacific Resilience Facility that was also launched last year. That's providing funding to help Pacific Islands be more resilient in the face of disasters and challenges that we are having already from climate change.

The question is how do we get the resources, the commitments of $300 billion into these plans to actually do the work that's needed to ensure that we have sustainable use of our resources, but at the same time, to ensure that we have healthy oceans, which lead to a healthy planet and helps combat climate change,” said Palau's president.

In conclusion, President Whipps thanked the people of Azerbaijan and the president of Azerbaijan for hosting COP and having a successful COP.

“We look forward to COP30. And let's keep the momentum going,” he added.

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