The Prime Minister of Tuvalu and President of Kiribati have called for a strong and effective climate change agreement at the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21) to be held in Paris at the end of this year.

Tuvalu PM Enele Sopoaga and Kiribati President Anote Tong met in Tuvalu on 2 October and issued a joint statement that this is their last chance to get it right.

They called for a strong and effective legally binding climate change agreement that creates a greenhouse gas limitation pathway that will ensure that global temperature stabilize below 1.5 degree C relative to pre-industrial levels.

“The commitments made by countries so far, in the lead up to Paris are steering us to a 3 deg C warming world. This would be disastrous for countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati."

PM Sopoaga said this is their last chance to get it right. If we fail Paris, we fail the people of Tuvalu and Kiribati and we fail mankind.

President Tong said we are facing immanent danger that a significant proportion of the population of Kiribati will have to look for somewhere else to live.

“We are very proud of our nation and this is a last resort. The Paris COP21 must be the decisive moment for the world to conclude a legally building agreement to cap temperature increase to well below 1.5 deg C and on urgent actions on adaptation. We cannot fail Kiribati, Tuvalu and the world.”

“The Paris legal agreement must include the establishment of a new mechanism on Loss and Damage. Both President Tonga and I were in New York last week at the Sustainable Develop Goals Summit.There was one clear message we were telling other countries, we need a mechanism on loss and damage. It is inevitable that our people will suffer the impacts of climate change, said PM Sopoaga.

“Cyclone Pam earlier this year was a clear indication that climate change is here to stay. We must have the means to allow our people rebuild and restore their livelihoods after climate change events,” he said.

President Tong said both their nations are low-lying and highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

“Our future and the future of the world must be guaranteed in Paris. There is too much to lose if we fail. We call on the French Government to do everything in its powers to ensure that Paris delivers a decarbonized world and a world that is compassionate for those suffering the impacts of climate change,” both men stated.

Double finance

Meanwhile, on 28 September the Asian Development Bank announced it would double it's annual climate financing to $6 billion for Asia-Pacific by 2020.

President Takehiko Nakao said ADB will double it's annual climate financing to $6 billion by 2020, which is up from the current $3 billion.

ADB’s spending on tackling climate change will rise to around 30 percent of it's overall financing by the end of this decade.

The announcement comes against the backdrop of a promise by developed countries to mobilize $100 billion every year from 2020 to counter climate change in developing countries.

"Out of the $6 billion, $4 billion will be dedicated to migration through scaling up support for renewable energy, energy efficiency, sustainable transport and building small cities. $2 billion will be for adaption through more resilient infrastructure, climate-smart agriculture and better preparation for climate related disasters."

The World Bank stated later this year, at COP21 in Paris, the international community is expected to finalize a new global agreement and the way to finance it.

World Leaders in New York committed to acheving 17 historic Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and ADB stands ready to be an important part of global efforts to finance these goals, Mr Nakao said.

"Nowhere is tackling climate change more critical than in Asia and the Pacific, where rising sea levels, melting glaciers and weather extremes like floods and droughts are damaging livelihoods and taking far too many lives."