Samoa Observer

Nations join Samoa's championing of climate report

Read the article

Nations join Samoa's championing of climate report

By Soli Wilson 07 October 2020, 4:00PM

Thirteen nations have pledged their support for the  ‘Science not Silence’ campaign launched by Samoa and the Island Resilience Partnership in Madrid at the 25th United Nations Climate Change Conference.

The campaign was initiated after an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (I.P.C.C.) special report, known as the 1.5 degree Celsius Report, was not formally received at the United Nations. 

The report has been blocked at the last two U.N. Climate Conferences. 

But that did not stop world leaders from championing the report.

And most recently, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, Fiji, Nauru, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Maldives, Republic of Marshall Islands, the Seychelles, St. Lucia, Timor Leste, Tonga, and Tuvalu were announced on Sunday to have formally joined the campaign during the Island Resilience Forum.

The campaign, which makes a pun on the name of the rejected report goes by the name SC1.5NCE Not SILENCE.

The Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Dr. Sailele Malielegaoi, said such a global unification behind science and scales for mitigating temperature rises proved partnerships were imperative in taking the right steps. 

“I encourage other countries to publicly support the IPCC 1.5C Special Report heading into [the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference] and join the SC1.5NCE Not SILENCE campaign so that we can collectively strengthen global resilience before it is too late," he said.

Pacific leaders are taking a leading role in ensuring the urgency in the climate crisis is not lost. The Alliance of Small Island States (A.O.S.I.S.) also joined as an official organising partner. The A.O.S.I.S. was crucial in garnering the support of other nations during the Island Resilience Forum.

Last month, the official youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Y.O.U.N.G.O. revealed it was joining as a co-organiser.

Heeta Lakhani, the Y.O.U.N.G.O. Focal Point from the Global South said the blocking of the report at the last two consecutive conferences was not acceptable.

Another  Y.O.U.N.G.O. member called for young people around the world to stand against it.

“The I.P.C.C. 1.5 C Special Report has been blocked at [the 24th and 25th United Nations Climate Change conferences] from being formally welcomed and used to inform international climate change negotiations. This is unacceptable,” she said.

“That is why youth leaders across the globe must work with their governments to secure political support for the 1.5C Special Report,” said Marie-Claire Graf, YOUNGO Focal Point from the Global North.

The Island Resilient Forum was established by the March For Science, the Alliance of Small Island States, the Island Resilience Partnership and YOUNGO with the purpose of building a support campaign. The campaign intends to mobilise world leaders and national Governments to publicly champion the I.P.C.C.’s 1.5C Special Report and to promote the blocked report.

The President of March For Science, Matt Tranchin, said the report had given the world a reason to unite and rally behind a good cause.

"When [the] March For Science [was] launched on Earth Day in 2017 with public demonstrations in more than 600 cities around the world, ‘unite behind the science’ was one of the original rallying cries,” he said.

“The I.P.C.C. 1.5C Special Report has given the world something to rally around - conclusive evidence that the climate crisis required countries to take urgent action to avert the worst impacts of climate change.”



By Soli Wilson 07 October 2020, 4:00PM

Trending Stories

Samoa Observer

Upgrade to Premium

Subscribe to
Samoa Observer Online

Enjoy unlimited access to all our articles on any device + free trial to e-Edition. You can cancel anytime.

>