Alliance of Small Island States

At the U.N. General Assembly on September 24th, ahead of COP29, AOSIS urged the G20 economies to surpass the outdated $100 billion target of the U.N. New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) regarding climate finance (AOSIS 2024). They emphasized that at least $1 trillion is needed to reach global climate goals, including mitigation, adaptation, and managing loss and damage (AOSIS 2024). Without serious financial investments, global warming will exceed 1.5°C, resulting in disastrous consequences for AOSIS states (AOSIS 2024). Hence, AOSIS is calling for access to fair and transparent funding to protect the world’s vulnerable and prevent broken promises.

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There is no question that the Global North has a historical responsibility to the Global South in committing to climate change targets. Ensuring equity between all nations, and attempting to close the gap between post-industrial and emerging economies, should be a key priority in the upcoming COP29 negotiations. 

Post-industrialized countries have collectively contributed to the agenda-setting of tackling climate change, for example, through the EU, which contributes the largest share of external public funding to climate change action, contributing just over €23 billion in 2021 (Council of the European Union). Whilst AOSIS acknowledges this contribution, it is also important for emerging economies, such as India and China, to also play a proactive role in committing to reverse their upward trajectory of GHG emissions, for the sake of small island states. 

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Due to the relatively small size of most AOSIS members, both territorially and economically, the absolute amount of greenhouse gasses that originate from AOSIS member states is minute compared to some of the largest states in the world. The Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) calculated around 0.49% of total emissions in 2022 originated from AOSIS members, with Singapore being the largest emitter at 0.13% of the global total (EDGAR 2023). These amounts dwarf in comparison to the largest greenhouse gas emitters, with Russia at 4.80%, the European Union at 6.67%, India at 7.33%, the United States at 11.19%, and China at 29.16% of total global emissions.