Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment, the honourable Sir Molwyn Joseph attended the first annual high-level ministerial round table on pre-2030 ambition on 14th November 2022 in Egypt.

The meeting, being held as a part of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) activities is a unique opportunity to help set the global direction on pre-2030 mitigation ambition and implementation. The main agenda of the meeting is to discuss how to put the global community firmly on the pathway towards achieving the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement of limiting the global average temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

Speaking on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Minister Joseph thanked the presenters for clearly showing the state of the climate crisis noting that AOSIS has been sounding this alarm for a long time.

“AOSIS has long sounded the alarm yet we still seem to be heading off the precipice at a speed that will result in unimaginable loss and damage for our countries. Major emitters, especially developed countries, have not even promised to do enough – showcased through the inadequate ambition in national climate plans” the Environment Minister stated.

The Minister declared that although the Paris Agreement is working, it is not working fast enough noting that with current policies, end-of-century warming is projected to reach 2.7°C.

Sir Molwyn implored other Ministers, to safeguard humanity asserting that countries must peak emissions immediately, and halve them by 2030 to keep 1.5 with no overshoot within reach.”

He stated incremental change is no longer an option and there needs to be broad-based economy-wide transformations across all sectors.

“Colleagues, we are currently robbing future generations of their right to a safe world while providing the fossil fuel industry trillions in profit.”

The Minister indicated that there needs to be Small Island Developing States -specific solutions so we are not left behind in the transition to the renewable energy economy.

“We need support and should be treated as “low hanging” fruit. While the global energy system is broken, the renewable energy revolution has begun and we need to double down on those investments – it is the only way to a sustainable future. It is truly our only lifeline.”

He concluded, “We are against the clock, but we have options and we have this decade to act. The longer we wait, the more loss and damage we will need to respond to.”