Climate change is moving faster than our response in addressing it. Our collective actions are insufficient and they are coming too late. We are witnessing grave consequences of climate change. No one knows this better than the Small Islands Developing States.
The IPCC report on 1,5 degrees is a call for action –now. It shows that we have no time to loose and points to the huge (dramatic) difference between 1.5 degree global warming and 2 degrees when it comes to the impact it will have on people, societies and biodiversity.
As part of the “High Ambition Coalition” in the climate negotiations, Norway have – together with the Small Island Developing States – consistently called for more ambitious global climate action - also in the follow-up of the Paris Agreement.
Norway advocates simplified access for smaller states and their projects in the board of the Green Climate Fund, and contributes to the WHO initiative to address health effects of climate change in Small Islands Developing States.
Norway also supports SIDS countries to transform fossil-based power systems to renewable energy through the IRENA’s Lighthouse Initiative and the Clinton Climate Initiative.
We are partners to the organizations and processes of priority for SIDS. Norway supports capacity building on climate change in AOSIS, and have provided half the budget to the preparation of the SAMOA Pathway mid-term review.
In the UN and the OECD/DAC, Norway strongly supports that graduated countries should be eligible for Official Development Assistance when their economic base is ruined by a catastrophe.
There is a need to strengthen early warning systems. According to the World Bank, investments in weather, climate, and water services are highly cost-efficient, with social and economic returns of 300 percent or more on investment costs.
Technical and financial support for early warning systems is an important part of Norwegian cooperation to build resilience in vulnerable areas.
We commend the ECOSOC President for convening this timely meeting, and we look forward to further dialogue with SIDS partners on how to build even better pathways to resilience.