Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen.
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), and
to congratulate you Mr. Chairman and the bureau on your election. We in AOSIS are
prepared to work productively with you during this session and beyond.
This session of the CSD is of great importance to Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
given our sheer vulnerability to climate change and the highly intricate linkages between
energy and our sustainable development. AOSIS has been very active in the
discussions on energy and climate change in the UN system because of these linkages,
and we have sought constructive and practical dialogue with our development partners.
The protection of the atmosphere is a broad and multidimensional endeavour involving
all sectors of economic activity. Here too developed countries must play their role in
assisting developing economies to develop national strategies and relevant regional and
subregional initiatives to combat climate change and mitigate especially trans-boundary
atmospheric pollution.
AOSIS fully shares the view expressed by the UN Secretary-General in his report
entitled ?In Larger Freedom? that ?one of the greatest environmental and development
challenges in the 21st century will be that of controlling and coping with climate change?.
It is cruel and ironic that while SIDS contribute the least to global emissions of
greenhouse gases, we are the most vulnerable to climate change and least able to
protect ourselves from its adverse impacts.
The adverse effects of climate change, climate variability, sea-level rise and associated
phenomena such as the increase in the intensity and frequency of hurricanes and other
extreme weather events continue to threaten the sustainable development, livelihoods
and very existence of SIDS. For example in 2004, over 3000 persons were killed in Haiti
as a result of Tropical Storm Jeanne. That same year Hurricane Ivan destroyed or
damaged over 90% of the houses in Grenada and caused over US $815 million in
damages or twice the GDP of that country. For SIDS the adverse impacts of climate
change are real, immediate and devastating.
The failure of countries, to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions means that the
vulnerability of SIDS will continue to increase and that adaptation to climate change
must continue to be a major priority for SIDS. We call on States that have not done so,
to ratify and fully implement the Kyoto Protocol, and for all States to take further urgent
action to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions, including through the
development and increased use of renewable energy.
We have undertaken fairly detailed analyses of the energy situation at the national level,
through our national assessment reports to the Mauritius International Meeting. The
Mauritius Strategy for the Sustainable Development of SIDS is very clear on the interlinkages
between energy and Climate change, and the urgent need for real action on
renewable energy. This Session must recommend ways to do this. We have further
discussed these at the regional and inter-regional levels, and have received in-depth
reports and inputs from our experts on how we should proceed. We have, in recent
months, presented these views to the international community, and recommended the
following for action:
n The need for an urgent application of energy efficiency and renewable
energy technologies, adapted to the special conditions of SIDS.
n The need for special focus be given to renewable energy in the
following sectors: wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, hydro and ocean
energy.
Indeed, many SIDS are particularly suited to these options because of their geographical
location. However, existing technologies may not always be adaptable to the needs and
circumstances of many SIDS communities, and we recognize this.
It is in this light that we continue to stress the need to fully take into account local
conditions when developing and implementing projects in SIDS. Specific differences will
necessitate somewhat different approaches ? from large islands to the smaller ones
(including the archipelagic SIDS). We have also identified the need to tackle the most
urgent issues, mainly the lack of access to energy services, and improvement in
efficiency. We recognize that in some of our regions, an efficiency drive based on a
combination of demand side management and improvements in technology would
actually go a very long way in accruing savings to our countries, and would break what
for many SIDS is a vicious cycle of the lack of investments, energy shortages and
blackouts, combined with a high energy cost that hampers all our productive sectors and
industries.
One of the key technologies for which we have been seeking implementation, is Ocean
Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). The ideas surrounding this technology are not
new, yet its potentially revolutionary impacts have been hampered by vested interests
and a lack of proper financing. With regard to the long-term energy security and
sustainable development of SIDS, OTEC provides for an energy technology that
converts solar radiation to electric power. OTEC, as an environmentally friendly
technology, has the meaningful potential to assist SIDS in their sustainable development
process.
SIDS, with the exception of Trinidad and Tobago, Papua New Guinea, Sao Tome and
Principe, and to a limited extent, Cuba and Barbados, have no petroleum resources.
Also with few exceptions (Barbados ? solar water heaters) and the other sugar
producing SIDS (St, Kitts, Fiji, Mauritius, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Trinidad
and Tobago) that use biomass for electricity generation, during the sugarcane harvesting
season, there is no meaningful development of the abundant renewable energy
resources that exist. Jamaica has also commissioned a 20 Megawatt windfarm with
prospects for expansion. The dependency on imported petroleum, which results in very
high electricity prices ranging from US$0.13 per kWh in the case of Jamaica to more
than US$0.30 in the Islands of the Pacific, is a constraint to development.
I also wish to link the issue of energy to some of the other problems that we in SIDS
face. Notwithstanding the reluctance of a few developing countries to engage in any
meaningful discussion on renewable energy, we remain confident that we can still find
common ground in the context of long-term global energy security which is a goal of all
developing countries.
In this connection, we feel certain that the position of the SIDS is supported by most of
the developing world and many of our partners. For us, renewable energy and energy
efficiency are prerequisites for sustainable development. So too is energy conservation
and environmental stewardship, bearing in mind the following:
n If greenhouse gas emissions are not significantly reduced and climate
change stabilized, SIDS will be destroyed, and no amount of effort on our part
will get us to sustainable development.
n If the cost of energy in SIDS is not reduced, we will never be able to reduce
our indebtedness and dependence on ODA and loans, as our exports will
never be competitive and our services will be too costly.
n If our economies are thus not enabled to compete and to trade we will never
have the wherewithal to make the investments needed for adaptation to
climate change ? due to the exorbitant adaptation costs caused by the
wasteful usage of energy by those industrialized partners that refuse to listen
to our concerns.
n Renewable energy and energy efficiency are key to all of our initiatives and
efforts for directing sustainable development in our communities.
I have noted with some concern that the report of the Secretary General (SG) makes
scant reference to the issue of adaptation to climate change. Ever since the 1992
adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) there has
been GLOBAL agreement that in order to counter climate change there must be
mitigation AND adaptation measures. Either of these measures in isolation makes no
sense. The impact and threats from climate change are real for SIDS and require urgent
and immediate action on the part of all countries. Developed countries are encouraged
to invest in renewable energy projects in SIDS in order that SIDS can benefit from the
lucrative carbon market and assist in enabling developed countries to meet their Kyoto
Protocol emissions reduction targets.
The Secretary General?s report also fails to identify important adaptation aspects of, for
example, renewable energy. The planting of bio-fuels crops could have beneficial effects
on soil stabilization and prevention of soil erosion. The use of renewable energy from
domestic sources would free up much needed foreign exchange that would otherwise be
used for oil imports.
Mr. Chairman,
Despite recognition of the vulnerability of SIDS, we believe that there is not a sense of
urgency attached to addressing our concerns. It should be a matter of urgent priority for
the international community to support SIDS in the development and implementation of
national climate change action plans and strategies. The GEF, the financing mechanism
of the UNFCCC must simplify its rules of access and disbursement to take into account
the special peculiarities and circumstances of SIDS. As the Third Overall Performance
Study of the GEF confirmed the GEF?s co-financing requirements are difficult if not
impossible for many SIDS to meet, and that more attention must be given to support for
the implementation of projects in SIDS that have been identified through years of
enabling activities.
Furthermore AOSIS maintains that additional resources within the GEF?s own climate
change focal area should be directed to support adaptation activities, including pilot
projects in particularly vulnerable sectors, regions and communities ? through an
expanded GEF allocation in the fourth replenishment period.
Within this context, it is the intention of AOSIS to play a constructive role during this
session of the CSD and seek to promote solutions to sustainable energy provision and
climate change that will promote sustainable development for SIDS with benefits for all
of the peoples of our planet.
I thank you.
