AOSIS: Climate promises must become action as islands face mounting threats

As Caribbean coun­tries grap­ple with ex­treme heat and drought, the Al­liance of Small Is­land States (AO­SIS) is warn­ing world lead­ers that cli­mate promis­es must trans­late in­to ac­tion and ac­ces­si­ble fi­nanc­ing for vul­ner­a­ble states.

At the 81st Unit­ed Na­tions Gen­er­al As­sem­bly in New York, AO­SIS called for con­crete com­mit­ments to keep the 1.5°C glob­al warm­ing lim­it with­in reach, ac­cel­er­ate the tran­si­tion away from fos­sil fu­els and de­liv­er cli­mate fi­nanc­ing to Small Is­land De­vel­op­ing States (SIDS).

AO­SIS Lead Cli­mate Change Ne­go­tia­tor Anne Ras­mussen, de­liv­er­ing a state­ment on be­half of AO­SIS Chair Am­bas­sador Ilana Seid, said wors­en­ing cli­mate con­di­tions could no longer be treat­ed as busi­ness as usu­al.