Leaders at U.N. urge world’s richest to do more on climate

Leaders at U.N. urge world’s richest to do more on climate

Sub: Env

Sec: Climatology

Context:

• Developing nations pleaded at the U.N. General Assembly for the world’s richest to do more to help them cope with the hardships they face from climate extremes.

Details:

• Small island states are most at risk from rising sea levels.
• World’s biggest economies in the Group of 20, which together account for more than 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
• Scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research warned that humanity has now damaged at least six of the planet’s natural systems including the climate equilibrium, with a seventh – the ocean’s chemistry – now threatened by acidification, which occurs as the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide from the air.
• According to the Net Zero Tracker, a research coalition based at the University of Oxford, the “commitment gap” was the result of the climate issue competing for government attention with other challenges like war, elections and or economic trouble.

Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS):

• Since 1990, AOSIS has represent the interests of the 39 small island and low-lying coastal developing states in international climate change, sustainable development negotiations and processes.
• As a voice for the vulnerable, its mandate is more than amplifying marginalized voices as it also advocates for these countries’ interests.
• In terms of size, AOSIS closely resembles the countries it represents on the global stage, but often punches far above its weight, negotiating historic global commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions, among other achievements.
• Chair of AOSIS: Permanent Representative of Samoa to the United Nations

Member states: