ALLIANCE OF SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES (AOSIS) LEADERS SUMMIT

STATEMENT BY?THE HONOURABLE PENNELOPE BECKLES, MINISTER OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

22 September 2023?

?

Madam Chair,?

Let me begin by expressing Trinidad and Tobago’s appreciation to you, Honourable Prime Minister, for convening this timely meeting in light of the increasingly urgent challenges facing our Small Island Developing States.?

What lies before us as AOSIS, in the areas of climate change, sustainable development and the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, remains vital now, more than ever.??

In this regard, Trinidad and Tobago maintains its full support and cooperation to the Chairmanship and to the Alliance, in collectively and creatively advancing the goals and priorities for SIDS, especially in the next months ahead.?

Madam Chair,?

The alarm bells are ringing and the latest IPCC Report paints a deeply distressing picture, especially for SIDS. We are far off track.?

As the AOSIS Ministerial Champion for the first Global Stocktake, our expectation is that the GST will not be relegated to simply a counting exercise, but rather an opportunity for the international community to scale up ambition backed by concrete implementation plans that are aligned with the Paris Agreement 1.5 degree temperature goal.?

All eyes will also be on the work of the Transitional Committee and the operationalization of the new Loss and Damage Fund. We remain hopeful that the Fund, with substantial financial pledges and commitments, will be a key pillar of the wider climate finance architecture, vested specifically to address the clear gaps in existing funding arrangements under the UNFCCC.?

We also need to see renewed commitment to turn pledges into actual committed funds so that the gap between ambition and action does not continue to grow. The outstanding commitments by developed countries, including the $100 billion floor and the doubling of adaptation finance, must be met. We must also build progress towards an agreement on the new collective quantified goal on climate change by COP29. ?

Like all other members of our Alliance, we place our faith in your leadership to keep us together and focused toward a successful outcome at COP28 in Dubai.?

Madam Chair,?

The Fourth International Conference for SIDS in Antigua and Barbuda next year will be a pivotal moment. Thirty years since the Barbados Programme of Action, we are still grappling with many development challenges that are disproportionately exacerbated by our inherent vulnerabilities to external shocks. It cannot, and must not, be business as usual.

As Trinidad and Tobago, we commit to engaging constructively in the Conference’s preparatory process and the elaboration of a new global development framework for SIDS that places all of us on the path to resilient prosperity.??

We also commend the work of the Chair on advancing the development of a multidimensional vulnerability index (MVI). However, the MVI must not be seen as merely another academic exercise. It must be seen as a vital tool to assist small island developing states to secure access to the low-cost financing, improve our long-term national planning, and enhance debt sustainability.

Madam Chair,?

Lastly, we have gathered here not only to reaffirm our commitment to our collective principles and ambitions, but also to renew the mandate of our esteemed Alliance, through the adoption of a new AOSIS Leaders’ Declaration. We believe that it sends critical and pointed political messages to the international community.?

Trinidad and Tobago reiterates our full trust and confidence in the Government of Samoa as Chair of AOSIS, and we recommit to working closely with our fellow SIDS in this campaign for sustainable development.?

I thank you.