Failing to provide predictable and adequate climate finance amounts is a breach of trust and equity at the core of COP negotiations.
Speaking on behalf of 14 Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Fiji’s Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Mosese Bulitavu told the COP presidency that the issue of climate finance is not a matter of political discretion, but of legal obligation grounded in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.
“We speak today as one voice, a voice grounded in the daily realities of rising seas, intensifying storms, and eroding livelihoods,” Mr Bulitavu said.
“The provision of climate finance… are not aspirational requests but binding obligations – the foundation of our survival and resilience.”
Mr Bulitavu noted that a decade after the adoption of the Paris Agreement, countries remain off track to meet the 1.5°C temperature goal while Pacific communities face accelerating climate impacts, from rising seas and biodiversity loss to more frequent extreme weather and dangerous heatwaves.
He said Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which obligates developed nations to provide financial resources for mitigation and adaptation in developing countries, remains unmet in practice.
The recent advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, he added, reinforces these obligations as matters of legal duty and shared responsibility.
“Failure to deliver predictable and adequate finance is not just an economic shortfall, it is a breach of trust and equity at the heart of this process.
“Article 9.5 specifically speaks to this point, and it is our position that the predictability of climate finance, through ex ante reporting, is critical.”
Pacific SIDS welcomed the opportunity for focused discussions on both short- and medium-term steps needed to implement Articles 9.1 and 9.3, which collectively cover the provision and scaling-up of financial resources.
“It is in this vein that we urge developed country parties to articulate multi-year national climate finance commitments in support of achieving the goal set out in 1/CMA.6, paragraph 8, well before CMA 8 in November 2026.”
