BAKU, Wednesday 13 November 2024 — In response to comments made at the COP29 climate conference by the President of Azerbaijan that fossil fuels are a ‘gift from God’, the following quotes can be attributed to Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific:
“Yesterday, we heard disappointing remarks from the President of Azerbaijan, who labelled fossil fuels ‘a gift from God’. The reality is that for Pacific and Global South communities dealing with the escalating impacts of the climate crisis, fossil fuels are a curse.
“This year’s COP29 is set against the backdrop of extreme weather disasters unfolding around the world, as the grip of the climate crisis tightens. Who should pay for this climate destruction, and for the loss and damage to livelihoods, lands and cultures that has already occurred?
“That is what leaders must agree on here in Baku. Now that the opening statements have been made, the stage is set for the most critical COP29 dialogue — for countries to set and agree on a new climate finance deal, the New Collective Quantified Goal.
“Countries must seize this decisive moment to catalyse climate finance ambition, fundamental to improving the lives of climate-impacted communities around the world. The deal agreed must include adaptation, mitigation and critically, loss and damage, to ensure countries are legally-obligated to ‘fill the pot’.
“Any credible package must be heavily grant based, so it does not create or reinforce the significant debt burden which climate vulnerable countries already have, especially the small island states. It must be based on principles of transparency and accessibility, so the most impacted communities can get quick access to these funds.
“Importantly, it must account for the special circumstances of the Small Island Developing States, who experience the impacts of the climate crisis so much more acutely than other regions, and who can not afford to lose hope in the COP process.
“In this spirit of resistance, Pacific and Global South negotiators will be fighting tooth and nail to secure the most ambitious and fit-for-purpose deal that is in the trillions, not billions — which is realistically what is needed to address the scale of climate catastrophe our communities are facing.”
—ENDS—
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