Page 34 - IB December 2021

Opinion Opinion

POST-COP26 AT THE MICRO LEVEL

By Kaliopate Tavola tives and principles, group members insist that such insubor-
dination demands sanction. Fiji was sanctioned under the Bik-
My last article on COP26 expressed the hope that the pessi- etawa Declaration. Australia should follow suit. We, however,
mism of the members of my informal talanoa group would be contemplated on whether there was sufficient resolve in the
proven wrong by the results of COP26 held in Glasgow from rest of the PIF leaders to see this through.
31 October to 12 November. Having skimmed through the full We are also able to view the whole COP framework, and
text of the Glasgow climate pact, and other related commu- eventual realisation of its targets, within a reasonable time-
niqués, I’m afraid to say that the pessimism we had pre- frame to allow financial commitments, for instance, to be
COP26 has somewhat remained post-COP26, notwithstanding met. Therefore, we are cognisant of the commitments made
a few bright spots. Planet Earth is still not safe. at COP26 and note anticipatively for due progress of these
For this month’s instalment, the group members have commitments in future COPs. The members, however, are
opted to evaluate our various stances that guided our outlook appropriately guarded in their anticipation. We are aware of
on COP26 for the purpose of securing learnings that can be the prospects of a number of climate change tipping points
benchmark for properly understanding the intricacies of the that may have already been breached and which are project-
technicality and politics of climate change. ing Planet Earth to possible climatic cataclysmic events. Thus,
The authors of the papers that guided our pre-COP26 apart from our circumspection, we also have overwhelming
talanoa had included Australia in their briefing. The group faith in humanity and its sense of duty to save itself from its
members were especially encouraged by that and anticipated own excesses. We do look to the future with sanguinity.
that regional unity would prevail in Glasgow. Our anticipation On the road to COP26, the talanoa group members had felt
was dashed to smithereens. satisfied with our diplomats negotiating on our behalf. We
In retrospect, it was unrealistic to have hoped for regional regarded them as our climate change champions. We knew
unity. The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), in the first place, was that they would continue to do well at COP26. The group did
fractured before going to COP26. Five Micronesian PIF mem- not have reasons to be disappointed.
bers had already decided to withdraw from the Forum, result- Furthermore, COP26 produced its own regional champions.
{ Pacific face in COP26, in Glasgow. He was the star of the

show. His deliveries, replete with emotion and steely

determination would have moved the most indifferent
to tears

ing from the election of the new Secretary General for the PIF Who can forget that powerful presentation by Samoan Brianna
Fellow Minister of Finance Seve Paeniu was the new {
Secretariat. This had ignored the long-standing gentlemen’s Fruen telling the world that: “We are not drowning, we are
agreement which would have given victory to the Microne- fighting!” What about that measured reflection by Solomon
sians’ chosen candidate. Islander Maonia Rikimani on the desperate hope of many in
Furthermore, Australia was true to form. It did not try to Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS)?
shirk its ignobility as a climate change laggard: it being no However, Tuvalu’s performance at the political level was
respecter of PIF’s Boe Declaration and its provision of exis- exceptional - both flamboyant and creative in its visual and
tential threat of climate change. Under its national banner of oral impact. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Kofe delivered
‘Australian Way’, Prime Minister Morrison refused to increase his presentation virtually for COP26 from a podium planted
its 2030 emissions reduction targets, even after the close of on land already encroached by sea back home. The message
COP26 when he was asked to consider such reduction specifi- of rising sea level, framed with unscripted SOS: the message
cally. Furthermore, he helped to water down ambitions to kill from all atoll inhabitants in the Pacific, and from the region
coal. The Sydney Morning Herald reported: ‘Glasgow climate as a whole, was as crystal clear as the sea lapping around the
summit in major backdown on coal, tougher targets.’ podium. We are not drowning as yet. We are still full of fight!
For the group, Prime Minister Morrison’s stance at COP26 in Fellow Minister of Finance Seve Paeniu was the new Pacific
contravention of PIF’s collective position is a clear statement face in COP26, in Glasgow. He was the star of the show. His
of defiance. In the context of the Forum with its rules, objec- deliveries, replete with emotion and steely determination

34 Islands Business, December 2021