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President Michel to join world leaders at UN climate summit |19 September 2014

President James Michel will join other world leaders next week in a summit called by the United Nationals secretary-general Ban Ki-moon to discuss climate change.

More than 120 heads of state and government from around the world including President of the United States of America Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have committed to attend the climate summit on September 23 in New York City, making it the largest gathering seeking to tackle climate change in history.

The leaders are expected to talk about ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions, in preparation for a crunch meeting in Paris next year at which world governments are supposed to sign a new global agreement on the climate.

The last time Mr Ban called such a summit was before the Copenhagen climate conference of 2009, which marked the first time that developed and major developing countries made joint commitments on curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

The UN’s hope is that bringing leaders, business executives and representatives of non-governmental organisations together in a series of private meetings will allow them more latitude to make new commitments, which are needed as current targets to cut emissions run out in 2020.

Those involved in the planning say that a series of commitments in the areas of emissions cuts and financial contributions will likely be announced. The announcements will be aimed at increasing the use of renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, reducing deforestation and promoting climate action in the world's cities, among other goals.

According to reports, carbon dioxide, the main long-lived greenhouse gas that is causing global warming, stayed at or above 400 parts per million for several months in 2014 – the highest it has been in human history. A single molecule of carbon dioxide can remain in the atmosphere for hundreds to a thousand years, which makes the problem particularly challenging to solve.

The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon called climate “the defining issue of our time,” adding that “action on climate is urgent. The more we delay, the more we will pay in lives and money.”

When he met Mr Ban Ki-moon on the eve of the third United Nations conference on Small Island Developing States (Sids) in Apia, Samoa, earlier this month, President Michel discussed the work of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and expressed the desire that the institution should grow in capacity and become stronger.

“We need to strengthen AOSIS to build institutional capacity to better represent the voices of Sids … We will continue to speak with a loud and strong voice, as one voice of the Sids,” said President Michel.

Mr Ban said Seychelles’ involvement at the conference would make a great difference in shaping the future development agenda, and that he would ensure that Seychelles’ concerns and aspirations would be reflected in the outcome.

He added that UN agencies would be mobilised to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations of the Sids.
“I count on your continued involvement and leadership,” the UN secretary general told President Michel.

The President described “climate change as a crime against humanity” when he addressed the Samoa conference and called for more decisive action against the phenomenon.

“We have come here not to beg but to assert our right. Our right to a decent life. Our right to survival in an increasingly cynical and manipulative world, dominated by big business. Our way of life that we want to bequeath to the children of our islands and their children. Our right to development that enriches our quality of life and the essence of our being over and above purely commercial considerations. Our right to exist,” said President Michel.
Mr Michel also called for a fairer deal for Sids in development agenda which encompasses a vulnerability index, focus on the blue economy as well as addressing islands’ debt management.

In his speech at the high-level side event – UNDESA with Commonwealth Secretariat on Sids Resilience, Vulnerability Resilience Profile on September 2, 2014, the President noted that Sids are the most exposed to global processes than any other type of economy.  

“We are the first responders to pressures within the international financial system. We are also the first to feel the pressure of global environmental considerations – chiefly climate change. This exposure to such processes makes us vulnerable in unique ways. This vulnerability undermines our development,” said Mr Michel who also told the meeting that in 2008 Seychelles faced the financial crisis head on with a debt to GDP ratio of 183% – at that time the highest ratio in the world.  

He added that vulnerability also presents an opportunity – an opportunity for us to build resilient island economies – and an opportunity for the world to also better get to grips with forces which often spiral into wider system failures.

“I have often said that what will work in an island economy can serve as a guide for what sustainable development can look like in wider societies. So far, our development efforts have treated symptoms – not the causes of economic ill-health or lack of sustainability in general. And for Sids this is largely because we have failed to recognise the core factors that underpin our vulnerability. A Vulnerability Resilience Profile is a key tool in better understanding the challenges faced by Sids and hence addressing these issues.

“We have recognised the core fragility of Sids since the 1994 Barbados Plan of Action (BPOA) and this has been reinforced by the Mauritius Strategy of Implementation in 2005 (MSI).  Despite the best efforts of Sids we have yet to truly adopt a reference on vulnerability,” said Mr Michel who welcomed the efforts by the European Union and the Commonwealth to develop an appropriate tool to identify the vulnerability of Sids.

 He said the financial investment made by the European Union with the technical support of the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs is so critical in developing the Vulnerability Resilience Profile.

 “The underlying methodology of the Vulnerability Resilience Profile is unique and at the same time extremely relevant as it spans the whole spectrum of sustainable development; by analysing vulnerability and resilience parallel with the three pillars of sustainable development i.e. economic, social and environmental, it provides for a very robust method.

“But for us to succeed in the long term we have to ensure that this vulnerability tool is used when taking decisions about development resources. I think this is key,” stressed President Michel.

 

 

 

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