Small island states in the Pacific and Indian oceans and the Caribbean are more prone to the effects of climate change including the threat of inundation, water scarcity, crop failure and more intense weather–such as hurricanes. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said his country would begin leading the way by contributing 25 per cent to alleviate their plight with the fast start funding. He made this comment at last Friday night's press conference at the International Financial Centre (IFC) Tower. Britain's PM Gordon Brown had proposed US$10 billion for the fund.
Rudd's move could not be more timely since Commonwealth Association of Planners Christine Platt said Perth, Australia, could be the world's first ghost metropolis due to the lack of water. "Australia intends to allocate at least 25 per cent of its fast start funding to developing small island states. At least five per cent of global fast start funding should be allocated to small island developing states through a small island state funding stream," he said.
Stressing the need for its urgency, Rudd said, "What Australia has proposed today is if the United Nations agree to establish a fast start fund to assist the most vulnerable states then five to ten per cent of the fast-start funding should be dedicated to small island states." "Small island states in the Caribbean and the Pacific and Indian oceans are, of course, vulnerable. It is not simply a problem, it becomes an existential threat."
Coupled with Rudd's commitment, he said he had spoken to Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the issue. Quizzed on what should be done to alleviate the imminent threat of about 150 climate refugees (UN stats), Rudd said mitigation and adaptation were important. "We need to start the fund rolling. We need to get it moving. We need to adopt mitigation and adaptation." He identified small states like Bangladesh, which he said needed the assistance as soon as possible.
Agard praises Australia's move
Prof John Agard, a lecturer at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, and a member of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, welcomed Australia's move. Agard is one of T&T's scientists who has been enlightening the population on the need for discussions on climate change and reduction of carbon emissions. Agard shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Roger Pulwarty, a senior physical scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Colorado, United States, and the director for the US National Integrated Drought Information System.
Agard said, "One of the things hindering progress was who would pay for mitigation. We welcome this news before Copenhagen climate summit. It is welcome news to know developed countries have come forward. That move will cause others to come forward." He said Rudd's move was a "welcome contrast" to the previous Prime Minister, John Howard who didn't sign the Kyoto Protocol. "When Rudd was elected, he went straight off and signed the declaration. There is a great commitment in Australia toward climate change. The new stance of the government is very positive."
At home, Agard said T&T was moving toward replacing old power generators with more efficient combined cycle technology. "There are plans to close down the old Powergen plant on Wrightson Road and construct new plants with technology that is far more superior. "Instead of wasting heat; it will try to capture that heat and it will have less emissions."
Principles of Fast Start Funding
1. Represent a substantial increase on existing climate change funding allocations and use distribution channels to ensure fast start finance is not delayed.
2. Focus on the small most vulnerable, least developed states–identifying a separate Small Island State Funding Stream within fast start allocations.
3. Ensure adaption activities are adequately and transparently funded from mitigation activities.
4. Focus mitigation finance on time critical activities reducing forest degradation.
5. Increase the capacity for developing countries to absorb significantly scaled up climate finance in the post 2012 funding arrangements.
