Islands First at COP15 in Copenhagen
20 december 2009
Islands First helped support several Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15), which was convened in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009. This latest round of negotiations was part of a process that began two years earlier with the adoption of the Bali Action Plan, under which Parties were given a mandate to enable the full implementation of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Throughout these difficult and contentious negotiations, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) distinguished itself as the voice of moral authority, pushing for ambitious action to address the climate change crisis. As members of AOSIS, the PSIDS played an integral role, influencing the tenor of the negotiations and demanding that policy proposals be responsive to the science.
At COP15, Islands First worked closely with several delegations to support their ambitious agenda and raise awareness of their issues. Islands First also organized a research team of volunteers drawn from Yale Law School, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and the Canadian Bar Association, and helped coordinate media outreach, expanding the coverage of island issues in international publications.
The conference demonstrated invaluable international leadership on climate change provided by island nations. AOSIS was first to propose the goal of limiting the increase in global temperature to well below 1.5 degrees Celsius, a goal that is now supported by over half the countries on the planet, including the Least Developed Countries and the African Group. This goal, along with the long-term target of stabilizing the concentration greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at 350ppm, was included in the Copenhagen Protocol draft text released by AOSIS at COP15. The AOSIS text was widely heralded by proponents of strong climate action, including renowned author and climate activist Bill McKibben, who praised it as “the first truly rational attempt to grapple with what the science of climate change tells us.” The strong positions put forth by AOSIS and the PSIDS set the standard for scientific and political integrity – a message Islands First disseminated to the media and other stakeholders in Copenhagen.
Islands First will continue to serve at the behest of the PSIDS in 2010. The Pacific Islands are among the true leaders in the fight against climate change and Islands First will continue to stand behind them.