Fiji: Global governments must step up efforts to cut emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, delegates said as a major climate conference in Fiji concluded on Thursday.
Pacific nations, among the parts of the world most vulnerable to climate change, are seeking to secure their priorities in global climate negotiations at the ministerial meeting in Fiji, which serves as a precursor to the COP31 forum in Turkey in November.
Key priorities include improving access to climate finance, protecting oceans, and ensuring the target of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels is upheld, despite projections from the United Nations that the threshold will soon be exceeded.
“Access to finance, the countries that need the finance the most, get it the least: small island developing states. That’s got to change,” Australian Climate Minister Chris Bowen said.
Bowen said the pre-COP events in Fiji and Tuvalu this week would help shape what is possible at COP31.
Turkey will host COP31 in the coastal city of Antalya, while Australia is leading the negotiations.